SEATTLE -- A Seattle family business has been taking Santa pictures and supplying local Santas for decades.
But this year they don't have a Santa downtown for the first time in 73 years.
"My grandma and my grandpa purchased the company in 1962," said Olin Viydo of Arthur and Associates. Olin is the third generation to help run the Ballard company that takes photos and hires local Santas.
Viydo said the company was told Pacific Place would go a corporate route to get its Santas this season. That normally means bringing in Santas from out-of-state.
"I wouldn't choose one location over the other because of where the Santa's from," said Cheryl Farrish of Edmonds, a mother who brought her 13-month-old Logan to University Village Thursday. University Village is one of Arthur and Associates' 10 Western Washington locations.
Olin understands if parents don't care about outsourcing Santas. He said the family company is focused on what it can control.
"What these folks are doing is getting a photo with Santa," he said. "We're fine being local."
