This Santa had a beanie.

That fits, if you know "Big Al" Cohen or saw his commercials over the many years Cohen had Big Al's Super Values, "Route (rhymes with 'out') One, Wiscasset."

Cohen and the signature beanie were back at the well-known spot Oct. 24, where he dressed as Santa for the latest ad for the business now in the building, Steve Jackson's Sweetz & More.

Jackson leases the building from Cohen and, in a phone interview Friday, he said Cohen has a legacy there, so much so, some customers think Cohen owns Sweetz. Jackson said he's "perfectly fine" with their thinking that. "He's definitely something that someone would want to hang their hat on, in order to promote their business."

Cohen, a Sweetz customer who enjoys its nostalgia and wide offerings, said he took part in the ad because Jackson asked him; because "it's part of the fun in life"; and because, as the landlord, he wants the business to succeed. "I'm happy to help him, and it helps people know exactly where the store is."

Cohen's favorite part of making the commercial were his interactions with customers who looked on. He talked with a Florida couple thinking of moving to Maine.

And when he drank some Moxie, it sent a chill through him and he "couldn't wait to get some water in my mouth immediately thereafter ... and there's a customer watching, and he goes, 'I have to tell to you, Moxie's the only thing I can put in the icebox at work that nobody steals.'"

Jackson said the ad promotes Sweetz & More as a "stocking stuffer" store. From Pez and other candy to toys, souvenirs, fudge and gourmet chocolates, it is a great place to get "stuff that complements a Christmas," he said. 

The store, which now has 18 employees, opened April 1, 2023; Jackson said the Wiscasset shop, New England's largest sweets shop in both square footage and items to buy, is doing very well, with 56,000 transactions so far this year, about half new and half repeat customers. That's the ratio you want, he said. Also this year, the Wiscasset store's sales are half the six-store company’s total sales. The other stores are in New Hampshire. 

He said he is "beyond happy" with how much business the Wiscasset store is doing. "It's shocking ... and just to see (the shop) be successful and to hear the reviews, and hear the people when they come in, (they) open the front door and go, 'Oh, my word.'"

Cohen appeared in Sweetz's first two TV commercials for the Wiscasset store. And when Jackson got the idea for Cohen to be Santa in this one, he called Cohen, who was happy to do it, Jackson recalled.

Making the ad with WCSH 6, Cohen "was a ham, as always," Jackson said, laughing. "He had everybody in stitches."

Jackson said the ad will run the last two weeks of November, skip the first week in December and then run the next two weeks.