JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) -- That shopping-mall Santa may look like he came from the North Pole, but more likely than not, he really came from one of the very few companies responsible for placing Santas in almost every shopping center in the nation.
    "Santa is a very big business,'' said Diana Leone, marketing manager at the Lakeside shopping center in Sterling Heights, Mich. "Just look at all the kids lined up all day to see him.''.
    Thousands of Santas work at malls during the holiday season, but there are just a handful of companies that supply them. Among the biggest are Santa Plus, based in St. Louis, with 1,500 Santas at 400 malls, and Cherry Hill Photo, based in Cherry Hill, N.J., with 1,000 Santas at 300 malls.
    Each placement company has its own Santa-suitability standards -- some only want white men, while a few look for men from different ethnic backgrounds and some will hire women. All require vibrant personalities, but the ultimate Christmas wish is real white whiskers.
    "Our wages depend on one major factor: Are they a natural bearded Santa?'' said Bob Wolfe, president of Cherry Hill Photo. "If you have a real white beard, you get a contract and can make up to $10,000 a season." Salaries for the most sought-after Santas have jumped more than 20 percent in the last three years.
    "As more malls see the value of real-bearded Santas, they have become more desirable and their prices have gone up,'' said Bob Riggs, president of Santa Plus. The money can be so good for some that they work during vacations from their permanent jobs. Others are retirees who take the part-time work. And some, like Chris Hanley, uproot their lives for weeks at a time just to take the job.
    Hanley left his gig as a Santa at a mall in Maryland to spend five weeks this year at the busier Newport Center Mall in Jersey City. The retired 59-year-old works 10-hours a day, seven days a week -- even during a recent heat wave that left him sweating in the Santa suit.
    "The days are long, but it's worth it in the end,'' said Hanley, whose wife used to spend three hours dyeing his beard before it frosted over on its own. He declined to give his exact salary for the season.
    While the pay for the most popular Santas can work out to $25 or more per hour, it isn't as good for those Santas requiring an extensive costume -- hair, beard and stuffing for the belly. Wages for these Santas start at about $7 an hour. Regardless, many feel a certain loyalty to the mall and the children, returning to the same shopping center so often that many kids believe they are the "real'' Santa. Cherry Hill Photo, for instance, said 80 percent of its Santas are repeats.
    On average, about 11,000 children visit Santa at each of the country's 1,800 enclosed malls, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade group. And it's not just kids who adore Santa. Erika Morrell, a 31-year-old from New York City, visits with Santa every year and buys a photo, too.
    "I love Santa and I'm still a believer,'' she said after sitting on Hanley's knee. "It gets me in the holiday spirit." But few visiting with Santa realize the big business that operates behind the scenes. It's safer and more convenient for malls to hire a company to provide the Santa. And those long-term contracts belong to only a few companies that are then signed on by the mall developers..
    Some of these companies date back to a time before malls even existed. Santa Plus was founded in the 1920s by Chicago Sun-Times newspaper photographer Sid Samuels, who used his flash camera to shoot Santa at department stores.
    These days, before one can become a Santa, there's a rigorous interview and a background check to make sure their criminal history is clear. Then there's the training. Santa Plus, for instance, gives its hires a booklet that covers everything from breath mints to costume care to timid children.
    Once at the mall, the employee must take on the role of jolly, old St. Nick, and put on a good enough performance to inspire parents to buy those cute photos of their children sitting on Santa's lap.
    While visitors aren't required to buy a photo, most do, and that money goes mostly into the pockets of Santa placement companies. The malls, meantime, receive a percentage of the sales derived at each Santa station.
    Like many other things surrounding the holidays, the price of the photos is increasing. While the cheapest photo package runs about $7 or $8 for two wallet shots taken with a Polaroid camera, new better-quality digital pictures start at about $20 each.
    "It doesn't matter what it costs, it's something special to have and keep,'' said Lisa Buchanan, who put her daughters, ages 3 and 6, in velvet party dresses before bringing them to see Santa. And just as her memories will last beyond Dec. 25, so too will the business dealings of the Santa placement companies, which turn their talents to other holidays.
    "There's always the Easter Bunny,'' said Riggs of Santa Plus.