Sta. Lucia Mall recycles Christmas decors
MANILA, Philippines - If you have been to Sta. Lucia Mall last year, you might remember the purple sofa at the corner of the stage where Santa used to sit, the Christmas trees and the reindeers. But everything else looks brand-new: colorful jacks in the box on which Santa, a reindeer and other Christmas characters perch, gift boxes with bright ribbons, a fantasy land where giant candy canes, colorful M&Ms and others beckon.
These “brand-new†décor are not recent. In fact, they’re recycled, a practice Sta. Lucia has been doing nine years ago, even before typhoons Ondoy and Yolanda struck.
Sta. Lucia Mall visual director Rene Labrador squeezed his creative juices again to make something new out of last year’s decor.
“I just recycled the Sta. Claus from last year’s décor,†he said. “It used to be only a head last year. Now, it’s an entire body.â€
The Fantasy Land, located at the mall’s basement fountain area, is another example of making old things look brand new. The mushrooms, M&Ms and candy canes dotting the fantasyland came from a recent debut of mall owner Annie Robles’ niece. Labrador agreed to do the debut decorations on one condition: every single piece should be recycled. When he got the go signal, Labrador not only came up with mushrooms, M&Ms and candy canes to suit the theme Alice in Wonderland. He also fashioned giant roses and cards, which move and sway with the guests. The roses and cards were designed so that a person can fit inside them and move this way and that.
“The petals rested on the person’s head,†recalls Labrador.
Two months after the debut, the mall owners kept their promise of recycling décor. Labrador took out the mushrooms, M&Ms and candy canes from the bodega and transferred them to the fountain area, which he transformed into a giant fantasy land. He also took out the giant roses and cards and asked the staff to slip into them the way they did during the debut to entertain holiday shoppers this time.
Shoppers now see these roses and cards in action Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from 3 to 8 p.m. at the mall’s giant Fountain Area-turned-Fantasy Land. Shoppers and mall guests can tour the place, walk over the bridge, sit on the sofa for photo-ops and even touch the decor if they present a mall receipt worth at least P300.
Labrador has appointed “Swiss guards†to welcome their VIP guests. The Fantasy Land is not the only place where young people can take selfies. The mall’s department store entrance has a smaller Christmas setting where anyone can go on stage and take selfies against a gaily-decorated holiday background.
