Menlo Park Mall Shoppers Furious Over 'Strip-Club' Christmas Display

This story was originally published on November 10, 2015

Outrage over Simon Mall’s unpopular Christmas displays surfaced at the Menlo Park Mall over the weekend.

And even though Simon Malls added a few trees to their display Monday, some shoppers still aren’t satisfied and are threatening to boycott Menlo Park this holiday season.

Patrons at the Menlo Park Mall in Edison took to Facebook over the weekend to vent their displeasure with the mall’s Christmas display. Menlo Park Mall is one of seven Simon malls decorated with the neon and glass —and a lack of Christmas trees.

“Whoever is in charge of making decisions.. should be ashamed of themselves!! Your display is NOT what Christmas is!!! I hope you loose so much business this year for offending the ones who made you what you are!!! I remember when you opened!!! Buh Bye Menlo Mall & Buh Bye Simon Malls NEVER AGAIN !!!,” wrote Facebook user Renee Dent on the Menlo Park Mall’s Facebook page.

One person even compared the display to a ‘strip club’:

“I’ll pass. The display looks like a strip club and should just be taken down. Most disgraceful idea of a Santa display I’ve ever seen. Will definitely be getting my daughters first Christmas pics done at Woodbridge mall. So sad especially because Menlo had the best Santa around,” Nicole Deak posted to the page.

“It looks like a Miami nightclub,” wrote another Facebook user, Karen Gundelach.

Simon Malls did apologize after the national social media outcry.

”It was a mistake,” Simon Malls president David Contis told the Charlotte Observer.

Trees were added to the Menlo Park display Monday. But many shoppers still aren’t happy.

“At this point I don’t care what they do, Simon malls will not get my money,” Dawny Marie wrote on a Facebook page called Boycott Simon Malls. So far more than 7,200 people liked the page. A Change.org petition has so far garnered more than 25,000 signatures to change the display.

“After 15 years of going to Menlo Park for pictures with Santa I can sat with all the sadness in my heart that this year I will not be visiting. Thank you Simon Malls for ruining a tradition. Bring back the traditional displays!” wrote Facebook user Annamarie Milintschuk Chowaniec.

Correction: This article originally mischaracterized the display as the "Glacier Experience," the name for a display used — and removed because of angry shoppers — at another of the Simon chain's properties.

Photo courtesy of Boycott Simon Malls