Every year in August, when people begin to look forward to cooler days and longer nights, the husks of dead retail establishments are resurrected. In the storefront of a former JCPenney’s, a frightening clown statue appears; the aisles of an old Radio Shack are packed with sultry Daenerys costumes — and over the door, where the old store’s brand used to be, a banner depicts a grim reaper lurking next to the word Spirit Halloween.
Spirit Halloween has made a multi-million dollar industry out of seasonal pop-up businesses. The firm made $400 million in sales during the 2015 Halloween season. Here are a few interesting facts about the ephemeral costume store to bring up the next time you go to a Spirit Halloween outlet near you.
SPIRIT HALLOWEEN STARTED AS SPIRIT WOMEN’S DISCOUNT APPAREL.
Spirit focused on ordinary clothes for ladies before selling fake blood capsules and Freddy Kreuger masks. Spirit Women’s Discount Apparel was California entrepreneur Joe Marver’s first business endeavor. In 1983, he decided to exchange his usual clothes for costumes for a brief period after seeing how successful the costume business next door was around Halloween. Sales were so good that the following year he established his first pop-up Spirit Halloween shop, which took him $100,000 in only one month.
SPIRIT HALLOWEEN WAS PURCHASED BY SPENCER’S IN THE LATE 1990S.
Spencer Gifts joined the Halloween industry after developing a company selling fart devices and other dirty goods in shopping malls. Spirit Halloween was bought by the store in 1999 when the pop-up chain had about 60 temporary sites. By Halloween 2018, Spencer’s has expanded to over 1300 locations across the United States and Canada.
THE RETAIL APOCALYPSE IS GOOD FOR SPIRIT HALLOWEEN’S BUSINESS.
Many strip mall stalwarts have closed or gone out of business as a result of the rise of internet shopping. Spirit Halloween, on the other hand, is an exception. That’s partly because the pop-up company has additional real estate possibilities because of all the abandoned big box shops littering roads throughout America. 12,000 chain store sites are anticipated to close by the end of 2019, and landlords are scrambling to fill those spaces with paid tenants. That’s great news for Spirit Halloween, but it’s bad news for Toys ‘R’ Us fans who don’t appreciate seeing their childhood toy store selling fake severed heads.
SPIRIT HALLOWEEN STARTS SCOPING OUT LOCATIONS IN NOVEMBER.
Although the pop-up shops are only up for a few months, keeping the business afloat is a year-round endeavor. The realty team at Spirit starts looking for venues for next season the day after Halloween when many customers put their costumes away and start thinking about Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas shopping lists. Even if there is more unoccupied retail space than ever before, negotiating leasing agreements with property owners can take months.
SPIRIT HALLOWEEN HAS DONATED MILLIONS TO CHILDREN’S HOSPITALS.
Spirit Halloween performs lovely work for kids when it isn’t attempting to scare them. Spirit of Children, a charity effort started by the firm in 2007, has raised more than $50 million for pediatric hospital patients since then. The money raised by the organization is used to provide sick children with toys, games, art activities, and pet therapy. Spirit also dresses up children’s hospitals with costumes, decorations, and accessories for Halloween.
SPIRIT HALLOWEEN PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE YEAR-ROUND.
The pop-up stores are only open for a few days after Halloween, but you don’t have to wait until next year to get your Spirit gear. The online store for Spirit Halloween is open from January through December. That means you can start planning your Halloween costume now — or find a non-Halloween excuse to dress up at any time of the year.
SPIRIT HALLOWEEN SELLS ITEMS FOR OTHER HOLIDAYS.
Although Christmas decorations aren’t available in Spirit shops, there is a whole area dedicated to holidays other than Halloween on the online site. There are costumes and clothes for Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, and the Fourth of July, as well as ornaments and inflatable yard decorations in the Christmas area. Many of the ornaments, such as an ax-wielding elf and a body rising from the dead, have a spooky edge because it’s Spirit Halloween.
MOST SPIRIT HALLOWEEN SHOPPERS WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE.
You’re not alone if it takes you all of October to settle on a Halloween costume. In 2018, Mary Leonard, the manager of a Spirit store in Virginia, told The Washington Post that the two weeks leading up to Halloween account for approximately 70% of the store’s sales.
