Inside Spirit Halloweens real estate manuevers and why locations pop up where they do
The arrival of fall also means the arrival, in many places, of a Spirit Halloween store. The pop-up retailer that specializes in costumes, decorations, and party supplies for spooky season is almost ubiquitous during September and October, with over 1,500 seasonal locations in shopping centers and strip malls across North America.The brand’s ability to set up shop quickly and then disappear in November is the stuff of legend. But the temporary nature of a Spirit—and the way they tend to inhabit big, empty storefronts—can leave people with mixed feeling.Some might look at Spirit taking over a former Party City as the work of an involved landlord, seeking to keep foot traffic up until another long-term lease is signed.
Others might worry that a Spirit is a last-ditch effort to squeeze a few bucks out of a dying area. And either direction could be a sign of things to come for the broader market and your home directly.There’s no definitive answer to that uncertainty here.Experts say it comes down to the broader context of the area, rather than just the Spirit itself. Spirit Halloween has been offering its pop-up retail experience since 1983.
The heart of its strategy lies in finding large, vacant commercial spaces, and convincing the landlords to agree to short-term leases.An empty Party City or Bed, Bath, and Beyond is a prime opportunity for Spirit to move in, even temporarily. “We like to locate our stores in power centers, strip centers, free-standing stores, major downtown retail locations and in major malls surrounded by a national retailer mix,” says the Spirit Halloween website.It also notes they look for communities with a population of approximately 35,000-plus, living within a 3-5 mile radius, and a car count of at least 25,000 cars per day. So while Spirit’s physical footprint only lasts a few months, the effort to locate the right places to set up shop is a year-round endeavor.
Don’t let the gaudy costumes and masks fool you: this i...