Arthur & Associates

Took my 15 months old to the country village in Bothell and the pics came out great!
The service was awesome as well!
Santa and 2 girls, they all tried to help making my boy smile and treated him very kindly
I will definitely go back there next year and recommend this location to my friends!
Thanks a lot, Jessica eggnog!!!

We have been impressed year after year with their customer service and quality of Santa photos. This year was over the top. Because they are no longer at the location we had pictures last year, we received a voucher for a $ 50 credit at another location. The first try at pictures, our youngest wanted nothing to do with Santa, so we tools picture with only our oldest. As we are driving away, our youngest decides she wants to sit on Santa’s lap. When we get back in and are ready to pay for our pictures, they won’t let us pay and print the photos for free. Incredible, patient, and kind service. Thank you for making this a positive experience for 6 years now.

Do Not come to Redmond Town Center if you have small children. The staff does not help kids look or smile at the camera. They also do not have a «clicker» to take the photo, so the person behind the camera isn’t looking through the camera, waits for the kids to look up and then looks in the camera to take the pictures… Guess what, a toddler has moved by then. I had to ask them to take another picture, and when both of my kids were actually looking and smiling, santa looked pissed, he wasn’t even smiling.
Also, they don’t have prices online, so you are absolutely shocked after you’ve stood in line outside for 45 minutes to learn that two 5x7s end up $ 43 after tax… No digital copies (they are even more)
I have great pictures of my kids with Easter Bunnies, previous Santas (Northgate Mall was great except the wait)… But i will NEVER go to Arthur and Associates again.

I took my slightly apprehensive three year old to see Santa. After a six hour wait for the Nordstrom Santa and a lost reservation I decided to go to Pacific Place to see their Santa. I’m so glad I did! He was wonderful and treated my little guy with so much respect and kindness. He really listened to what he wanted and gave him a hug! He was super and the whole experience was just great! I will be bringing my son back next year!

We took my son to Pacific Place last night for a photo with Santa. He cried, but Santa and the staff were all great. I would have given this 4 stars except I haven’t received my photos. I purchased digital files. When the cashier told me I would probably get them via email in an hour or so but to call the next day if I had not received anything, I knew that was a sign that they probably had regular issues with e-​files. As expected, it’s the next day and I haven’t received an email. I left a message at the number they gave me, which noted to leave your info if you did not receive your photos via email (a sign that it is indeed a regular problem). It doesn’t make sense that they can’t come up with a reliable system to provide digital files. I hope I don’t have to wait too long to get the photos.

My daughter had a wonderful experience with the Santa at U-​Village! He was kind, attentive and friendly. She even agreed to sit on his lap. We had a terrible experience with another Santa and another photographer a couple of days before. This completely made up for that. We will absolutely return to Santa at U-​Village again next year if Arthur & Associates are the photographers!

Santa Doug at Pacific Place is the absolute best Santa in the Pacific NW. He has the most jolly smile and is just a perfect Santa.
Why would you wait for hours and hours just across the street for Nordstrom and its weird modern art backdrop when you can visit the coolest Santa around (Santa Doug) and only wait for 30 minutes!
Best Santa experience! Thank you.

We’ve taken our girls to Lake Forest Park for Santa pictures for many years. They’ve always done a good job, and took a good picture this year. BUT, our girls are 10 and 13 now. They feel uncomfortable sitting on a strange man’s lap, which I support. I told them they wouldn’t have to sit on his lap, and saw them standing by Santa for their photo. While I was paying, though, one of Santa’s «helpers» said to my 10 year old «If you sit on Santa’s lap, you’ll get an extra candy cane.»! Yikes! Unfortunately, my daughter loves candy canes, and she did sit on his lap, even though she was very uncomfortable. Obviously, she needs more «training», but what bothers me most is that this «elf» would even do that. He looked to be in his early 20’s, and should know better.
I called Arthur and Associates today to let them know. I talked to a man who didn’t seem too bothered by it. He said they hire teenagers for a month, so what could they do? No apology, no «we’ll train them better», no nothing, except for «we do 100 – 200 photos a day». Not sure if I can give them business next year.
We do like to do Santa photos just to have this wonderful visual timeline of their growth, even if they are standing next to Santa. Maybe somewhere else next year.

We were planning to visit the Nordstrom Santa after reading the RedTricycle article, but the line was so long and it was out side of the store. I was not going to let a 9 months old waiting in the 30 degree weather to see Santa. Luckily we did a quick search and found the Pacific Place Santa. There was no line on a busy Saturday in Dec. and it was inside on the 2^nd floor of the mall. Santa and his helpers were super friendly and patient. They try to get baby’s attention and get her to smile for the camera. The price the photo was a little pricey but reasonable. We ordered one of the package with 1 5×7, 2 Wallet Size sheets and the digital image for $ 55. I think next year we’ll just order the digital image package for $ 35 and print our own photos. Pacific Place also has the festive flurry of snowflakes every evening at 6pm. Next time we’ll to be there around snow flake falling.

I feel bad leaving a less than stellar review but here goes… This was my sons first time seeing Santa since he is 11 months old. At this point I felt like the experience is more for the parents and less for the child since it is more traumatizing for little ones to be put into a strangers lap. All of the people working were very nice and the whole set up outside redmond town center is great (heat lamps, little cottage you go inside). However our Santa seemed like maybe he should be heading into retirement? He was yawning when kids were there, and when they asked us to come in because it was cold outside Santa said «it’s not much warmer in here». Okay? Then when it came to photo time, our son did very well (no crying) and the overall picture was good, but framed terribly. They cut my sons hand half way out of the photo. So Santa and his chair and my son are in the pic with just the edge of his hand out of the frame. I know it seems like not a big deal but when you are paying almost $ 40 for one .jpg photo
File, I was expecting it to be more professionally shot. It felt rushed (a little expected), but for the money I was expecting a more experienced photographer. Next year we might try again or go somewhere else. I probably wouldn’t pick the same Santa either (they rotate). It is convenient in Redmond town center.

We’ve been visiting their Santa downtown for the last 10 years. Always a great picture and multiple years with the same santas. Last year I accidently threw away our picture. I emailed them gave them a date, time and description. They were able to find my picture and mailed it to me. They are awesome!

The Santa business is a surprisingly cutthroat one. When you think about it, starting sometime shortly after Thanksgiving every year, department stores, malls, festivals, news features, parades, and a plethora of other events feature a live Santa. Some are better than others, but they all factor into making the holiday season merry and bright.
But somebody’s gonna want to get paid. Santa don’t work for free.
Established in 1922, Arthur & Associates is a family owned, Ballard-​based purveyor of Santa and Santa-​based services to the greater Seattle area, and they take being a hometown business to heart. in 2011, they operated 10 Santa photo establishments in locations like Pacific Place and Bellevue Square in addition to providing Santas for the aforementioned Santa needs. You might pay a premium for their services, but you’re likely to get what you pay for.
This year, we took our son to their Pac Place location for his second year Santa portrait, which is pretty much a production line of stand in line, then smile (or cry), pay for your pictures, and get out. The photographer was very patient with the parade of crying kids, micromanager parents, and indecisive purchases (we hit category one and three this year), and his assistants did a good job directing traffic and keeping things moving along without rushing people. Most importantly, Santa was proper and jolly, with a real beard and engaging, patient demeanor with everyone who came to visit.
When we got home, we found that they had missed a couple of the prints we paid for. I rang them up the next day to see what could be done, and I found myself visiting their Ballard headquarters to pick up my prints directly. While there, I got a quick history of A&A, learned how they plan and manage their annual operations, and got a glimpse at the underbelly of the Santa industry, including how Macy’s ousted A&A this year to bring in a corporate Santa from the home office, poaching one of A&A’s most popular Santas in the process.
For what it’s worth, my sister-​in-​law took their kids to Macy’s because it was their tradition, then ended up going back to A&A in Pac Place because the new Macy’s experience was so miserable it almost ruined Christmas.
I guess that’s a rather roundabout way of saying that we have a pretty outstanding service here in Seattle, even if you never think about what goes into the creation of your annual Santa photo. They offer top shelf customer service both out and about and behind the scenes, and you can even check their website to choose which Santa you want your photo with and find where they’ll be and when.
I never thought I’d never be concerned about where Santa came from, but there’s a lot of things I never thought I’d be concerned with before my son was born. And he’ll be visiting an Arthur & Associates Santa until he’s too old for Santa.