When my son was younger, some of our best memories centered around the month of October. We would visit the closest Spirit Halloween on multiple weekends leading up to the holiday, and he took incredible delight in inspecting every product in every corner of the store.
Favorites included the startling animatronics and their all-too-tempting “step here” buttons, the selection of bloody severed limbs, and the lenticular portrait of the Mona Lisa (look at her from this side — she’s a skeleton!).
Spirit carefully cultivates this immersive consumer experience, encouraging gawkers of all ages to spend as long as they like just enjoying the store.
In a Weird Marketing Tales post, blogger Brandon Rollins shares:
You know you’re in some long-dead Sears surrounded by stand-up walls and posters and flat-pack furniture. But the atmosphere and commitment to theme make up for it, and ultimately, all those ‘flaws’ end up not mattering. In fact, they end up weirdly adding to the charm!
Image source: Shutterstock
Spirit Halloween’s meteoric rise
The Spirit Halloween concept began to take off back in 2003, when Steven Silverstein, former president of big-box chain Linens ‘N Things (now an online-only retailer), became CEO of quirky mall specialty store Spencer Gifts.
Spencer Gifts had acquired Spirit Halloween (at that time with a modest footprint of 130 stores) only a few years earlier, in 1999.
Spirit Halloween grew exponentially in the next two decades, CNBC reports, and it is now the largest brick-and-mortar, Halloween-specific retailer in the U.S., boasting more than 1,500 seasonal pop-up stores across North America.
Related: After Joann and Party City bankruptcies, a new player steps in
Spencer Spirit Holdings Inc., created in 2007 to oversee both Spencer Gifts and Spirit Halloween, is privately held, although according to CNBC, it had raked in an estimated $1.87 billion of annual revenue as of January 2024, based on Moody’s Ratings.
The majority of that revenue is thanks to the Halloween side of the business. The Hustle calculated — based on 2021 projected costume spending and Spirit Halloween’s market share — that Spirit would earn $528 million that year.
In the last decade, Spirit’s store footprint and earnings far outpaced those of rival Party City, whose 149 Halloween City pop-up stores brought in $51.6 million in 2022.
Spirit’s dominance was certainly also helped by Party City’s 2023 and 2024 bankruptcy filings and ultimately, the closing of virtually all of its physical stores, including all Halloween City locations.
Spirit Halloween: It’s all about that (physical) space
Amazon does a massive online Halloween business. According to a 2023 survey by e-commerce intelligence company Jungle Scout, “Amazon is the most popular destination for consumers shopping online for Halloween-related items.”
In sharp contrast, Spirit Halloween’s online sales comprise only a small percentage of its business. But Silverstein wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I am a [dyed]-in-the-wool, brick-and-mortar retailer,” he told students at Rowan University’s Rohrer College of Business, as reported by Rowan Today. “Yes, you can shop on your phone, but it is not the same thing as in-person.”
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“We call it five senses retail,” Silverstein, a Wharton MBA, explained to business students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “I want you to see it, I want you to hear it, I want you to smell it, I want you to touch it, and I almost want you to taste it.”
Still, some disappointed Redditors claim today’s Spirit Halloween shopping experience packs less of a punch, lamenting that the pop-up chain has seemingly shifted away from horror to become more family-oriented. Commenter ChaChaChaChiaPets wrote:
I miss the rows and rows of animatronics with the pressure plates and having the anxiety of wondering what terrifying thing each one did when stepping on it. I just don’t feel that anymore, and I know for a fact that it’s more because they changed to be less scary rather than me changing as I’ve grown into adulthood.
Spirit Halloween shines as other retail stores shutter
With brick-and-mortar experiences as Spirit’s key differentiator, it doesn’t hurt that the many store closures over the past few years have supplied it with ample vacant retail space. It’s no surprise that Spirit Halloween is setting up shop in former Big Lots, Party City, Joann, or Rite Aid locations, among many others.
Even better, Spirit just happens to need temporary space in the fall, precisely at the time of year when a property manager, following one retailer’s exit, might be looking to make a little rent money while awaiting another permanent tenant (most new tenants move in at the beginning of the new calendar year, Silverstein noted).
U.S. states with most significant Spirit Halloween presence:
- New Hampshire: Most stores per capita (about nine stores for every million people)
- California: Most total stores (about 200)
Source: CBS News
Spirit Halloween is also very savvy about where it plants its pop-ups, even knowing exactly how many stores can succeed in a geographic area. As USA Today reported:
The company has a year-round team that analyzes the available real estate and, while the company would not part with the recipe for the witches’ brew that leads them to where they want to set up shop, Silverstein believes that the brand’s name recognition is the key to succeeding despite the store’s nomadic nature.
In addition to its year-round employees, Spirit hires temporary help in local markets each Halloween season. But Silverstein explained to Wharton students that about 75% of its more than 400 field operators or district sales managers return each year. These include retired teachers, retired retailers, and even artists, all of whom share a passion for Halloween.
Americans are still hyped for Halloween, tariffs be damned
The National Retail Federation’s annual consumer survey revealed that 2025 Halloween spending is expected to reach a record $13.1 billion in 2025, up from $11.6 billion last year. This is impressive, considering that most respondents (79%) reported expecting higher prices this year, specifically because of tariffs.
Likewise, in a 2025 InMarket survey, more than half (53%) of respondents said their Halloween costume/decoration budgets would remain the same as last year’s. Interestingly, 43% of these respondents planned to shop primarily in brick-and-mortar stores, and another 48% planned to shop both online and in-person.
Related: Spirit Halloween shares spooky warning for American consumers
There’s a clear desire for hands-on Halloween shopping, and Spirit Halloween is more than ready to cash in.
True, it might cost Spirit a little more this year to stock products originating overseas, but the company spends less on advertising than traditional year-round retailers, opting to generate low-cost publicity with its lively social media presence.
Balancing trendy, licensed Halloween costumes with time-honored classics
Spirit Halloween does invest in licensing some characters, such as ones from popular Netflix shows. (Has the daily news cycle got you in the mood for a dystopian survival drama? Maybe Spirit’s pink-jumpsuited guard costume from the “Squid Game” series is just the thing.)
But if a character costs too much to license, beware: Spirit might stock a copycat instead. Remember the Saturday Night Live mock commercial in which Spirit employees tout “costumes of famous characters tweaked just enough to avoid a lawsuit”? Fans may recall the fake “Despicable Me” Minion costume hilariously named “Fat Yellow Worker.”
Spirit’s strategic mix of trendy and evergreen costumes is no joke, however. It knows many children and adults want to dress up in a classic costume such as a vampire. And Spirit is happy to tuck away that unsold black cape until next season.
Silverstein told Wharton students: “Part of our model is that we carry over inventory from year to year….We store it locally.”
Key takeaways for Spirit Halloween:
- Grew from 130 pop-up stores in 1999 to more than 1,500 today.
- Estimated revenue of $528 million in 2021; consumers’ projected Halloween spending will hit a new record high in 2025, pushing Spirit’s earnings even higher.
- Promotes immersive, in-person shopping experiences.
- Minimizes costs by occupying vacant retail space, relying on social media for free advertising, and storing unsold inventory for next year.
- Employs staff year-round as well as seasonally.
- Licenses characters to offer trendy costumes, but also sells plenty of classics.
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