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# Mall merchants banking on solid sales this season
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/mall-merchants-banking-on-solid-sales-this-season/
- Published: 2002-11-20T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:58:11.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import

needed to find somebody who wasn’t an ordinary holiday decor designer but someone who was creative and innovative.”

Avery, who did the art direction for the films “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” and “Minority Report,” could be described as unique when it comes to holiday decorating. He has been awarded for creating the Animation Pavillion at Disney’s California Adventure Theme Park in Anaheim and was the set designer for the “Cosby Show” and “A Different World.”

The Santa Monica Winterlit project is Avery’s first attempt at outdoor holiday decorating on a large scale, but there are elements of it that would be found on a movie set.

“There are elements that are similar to things I’ve done in the past but what’s different was taking into account safety that a lot of people would be around it and that it should be durable because it’s got to last for five years,” he said.

Avery said the biggest challenge on the project was pleasing all the merchants whose opinions varied from one spectrum to the other.

“There was a completely wide range of what people expected,” he said. “But in the long run, everyone signed off on it.”

Set designers and work crews began on Nov. 1 and finished this week. All of their work will culminate on Saturday with actress Jamie Lee Curtis flipping the switch at the grand lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. at Center Court on the Promenade. Santa Monica Place also will turn on lights at the facade of the Promenade entrance.

Santa Claus is expected to show up on Saturday at about 9 a.m. At noon, strolling carolers will sing up and down the mall. Radio station KOST 103.5 FM will broadcast live from the Promenade. The Winterlit installation will light the Promenade every day from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. through the first week of January.

Santa Monica Place will unveil its brand new decor, which includes a 30-foot tree, ice elements and snowflakes, a snow fairy and a multi-colored light show which will create a shimmering snow effect on the exterior of the building.

The Macerich Company, owners of the mall, and the Bayside District Corp., have marketed jointly through mailers and other advertising to promote Winterlit. The message they are attempting to send out is to have a shopping experience in Santa Monica.

“We want the decor to help people to make their shopping decisions here,” Rawson said. “I’m hoping they’ll turn out for it.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 20, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/112002.pdf?ref=smdp.com)