Big changes are coming to Philadelphia's Christmas Village this year
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- As the city begins to prepare for the holiday season, changes have been proposed for the Christmas Village and Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market at LOVE Park and City Hall.
Action News obtained a letter sent by German American Marketing, Inc., the company that runs the village, to its vendors in Philadelphia. It detailed accessibility changes that are in store for vendor booths this upcoming season.
In the letter, the company said it had worked last season to ensure the village was in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. But it said the changes that were made were not suitable for everyone.
For this holiday season, German American Marketing said permanent ramps have been proposed.
"The ramps would need to be 8' long with handrails for each kiosk," the letter to vendors states.
"We don't want to go into details, but obviously there is no space in the existing walkways, and blocking the entire fronts with handrails will keep foot traffic away from the front of vendor booths. Additional considerations of crowd management and overall event safety are clearly not making this a viable option."
The only option, according to the company, is to make all booths "inaccessible" to customers, which means there will be no more walk-in booths at the Christmas Village or the Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market. Instead, an entrance barrier will be placed at the front of each booth, leaving vendors to present their products to customers.
Lindsay Gradel, the creator of the 'Sew Much Cooler' children's clothing line, set up shop at the Christmas Village two years ago.
She told Action News, "There is a step when people come into the booth, so it's not ADA-compliant."
Gradel isn't returning to the market for several reasons. After being notified of the changes in store for this season, she said she spoke with several other vendors who are concerned.
"It costs eight to nine thousand dollars for a booth, depending if you're at Dilworth or LOVE Park. They decided it's too much of a risk," Gradel explained. "We don't know how our sales are going to be without people being able to walk in to smell our candles, to try on our jewelry, to try on a sweatshirt."
She added, "Every customer at the holidays, they want to go into the store, and they want to shop. It's part of it."
In his letter, Thomas Bauer, the President & CEO of German American Marketing, said, "While I suspect most of you will conclude that it's an equally worse experience, we really have no other viable option. This is the solution the City feels comfortable with from a legal perspective. We are not overly excited, but decided to offer an experience that is in 100% compliance without having to find out through litigation."
Action News also spoke with Drew Fisher, who owns the bath and body products company 'Color & Flame Handmade.' He said after three years of selling at the Christmas Village, he will not be returning this year.
"Just the way that we organically interact with the customer. The way the customers find things. People just want to walk in and experience it on their own terms," Fisher said.
He wishes he had known about these changes sooner.
"There are other shows we could have done. And if we found out earlier, we could have applied to them. It's too late now."
German American Marketing said there will be a select few locations where permanent ramps will be possible for businesses to "open up."
Action News reached out to both the marketing company and the city for comment. We are waiting to hear back.
