Take a Santa selfie, win $50 at Algonquin Commons
You may already feel like Santa as you're shopping up and down the Randall Road corridor, picking out the perfect Christmas gifts for everyone.
Now at the Algonquin Commons shopping center along Randall Road, you can look like the jolly old fellow too, and possibly win a gift card to pay yourself back after all of those shopping excursions.
The mall is sponsoring a Santa Yourself contest throughout the holiday season.
There are 1,000 cardboard Santa beard masks placed in retailers throughout the mall.
You just need to find one of the free beards, put it on, and take a selfie while wearing it. Then, if you post it to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, you'll be entered to win a gift card to the mall.
Each day until Dec. 24, the mall is giving away a $50 gift card to one person who posts their photo, said Kim Gilmore, who is in charge of marketing for Algonquin Commons.
Beards have been spotted on a Thanksgiving turkey in Gordmans and amid the plush stuffed animals and cutesy clothes at Justice.
Some beards are in plain site in the stores, and some are creatively stashed. It is up to the individual retailers where they want to place the beards, Gilmore said.
More Santa
If you're looking for more than the beard, you can spot the full Santa at Algonquin Commons from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. He'll be riding a trolley from one end of the mall to the other.
Since the mall has no indoor space to host Santa, Gilmore said, mall officials have created one for him on the trolley and you can visit him there.
You too can ride the trolley while shopping. It will be available Saturday, Sunday and Dec. 20.
Sounds for St. Jude's
This Sunday, a local singer will be sharing her Christmas music at Geneva Commons on Randall Road to help raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Lindsey Campobasso will be near the Bell Tower at the mall singing holiday music from 1 to 4 p.m.
Free gifts
As you're shopping or dining at Geneva Commons this holiday season, you'll want to save your receipts. Once you get $100 worth you could earn a free gift.
If you bring your receipts to Amy's Hallmark (next to Tilly's) you could get a pair of wineglasses. You can choose from clear or a holiday themed-design, while supplies last.
Or if jewelry is more your thing, you can bring your receipts to Azar Jewelers (next to White House Black Market) for a 12-millimeter crystal ball on an 18-inch sterling silver chain.
Only one gift per customer is allowed, and they will be given out while supplies last.
• Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or (847) 894-5036.