Department store Macy’s will not host Santa Claus in their New York store for the first time in 160 years. With the coronavirus pandemic lingering, the NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco stores won’t have a Santa. The good news is that Santa will make an appearance at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

The Thanksgiving Parade will also be different this year with “the floats, performers, and balloons filmed in front of Macy’s Herald Square location rather than following their typical path through Manhattan.”

It’s a shock that the Santa meet and greet draws over a quarter-million people to the store. Macy’s announced on Thursday that the store couldn’t handle the precautions needed to carry out the annual tradition of sitting on Santa’s lap.

The Associated Press reports that the traditional ‘Santaland’ in the Macy’s store would be difficult to pull off because of its maze-like setup.

The new setup for visiting Santa at Macy’s was announced in a statement released by Macy’s saying the store will offer a virtual replication of the interaction on the Macy’s website.

“Moving to a virtual engagement will safely bring the magic of Santa Claus to children of all ages this year.”

The Macy’s store was the basis for the plot of the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street.”

The photo below from the original movie that became a Christmas favorite:

We’d like to know what’s changing where you live. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah coming up soon, will you be changing anything about how you celebrate?

Are any relatives refusing to get together? There’s a silver lining in everything.