Spirit Halloween Expands with New Christmas Pop-Up Stores
Festive Pop-Up Stores
Updated : 1 month ago
Spirit Halloween, known for bringing a temporary thrill to retail spaces with its spooky stores, is now venturing into uncharted festive territory. This year, Spirit Halloween will not close its doors after October 31st. Instead, some of its stores will transform into Spirit Christmas—pop-up holiday shops that promise to bring the same magical energy to the Christmas season. Spirit Christmas stores will be filled with holiday decorations, inflatables, gifts, and apparel. Alongside the wide range of festive products, visitors will get to experience seasonal attractions like life-sized gingerbread villages and the chance to meet Santa Claus, making it a go-to destination for holiday shopping and family fun.
What’s Behind the Move to Christmas?
Spirit Halloween has built its reputation as the go-to seasonal retailer for all things Halloween, opening over 1,525 stores in the US and Canada in 2024 alone. The company, owned by Spencer Gifts, uses short-term leases on vacant retail spaces, giving it a flexible and cost-effective approach to seasonal retail. These stores are typically open for around eight weeks before Halloween and close soon after the holiday, capitalizing on the intense but short-lived consumer demand for spooky decorations and costumes. However, with the winter holidays being an even bigger retail opportunity, it makes sense for the company to extend its operations. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), Americans spent nearly $964 billion during the 2023 holiday season—a record figure. In contrast, Halloween spending for 2024 is expected to reach $11.6 billion. With Christmas shopping making up a massive chunk of the retail industry’s yearly revenue, Spirit Halloween's decision to step into the holiday market is strategic.
Spirit Christmas: A New Holiday Experience
At its core, Spirit Christmas aims to do for the winter holidays what Spirit Halloween has done for October 31st: create an immersive, fun shopping experience. These pop-up stores will offer a variety of holiday items, such as:
- Christmas décor and lights
- Inflatable decorations
- Stocking stuffers and gifts
- Festive clothing and accessories
But Spirit Christmas isn’t just about retail. These stores will feature a life-sized gingerbread village, where families can explore, take photos, and write letters to Santa. There will also be opportunities for children and adults alike to get a picture with Santa Claus, with a free digital postcard included for each guest.
Locations and Opening Dates
The first Spirit Christmas store is set to open on October 18 in Mays Landing, New Jersey, followed by nine other locations across the Northeast US. The remaining stores will open their doors in early November, ensuring plenty of time for shoppers to get into the holiday spirit. Confirmed locations include:
- Marlton, NJ
- Brick, NJ
- Woodbridge, NJ
- Albany, NY
- Bohemia, NY
- Poughkeepsie, NY
- Erie, PA
- Waterford, CT
- Dartmouth, MA
Each location will remain open through the holiday season, closing only after Christmas festivities wrap up.
Why Spirit Christmas Could Succeed
While the move into Christmas may seem surprising, Spirit Halloween is perfectly positioned to tap into the winter market. Here’s why:
- Pop-up model success: Spirit Halloween has mastered the art of short-term retail, efficiently using vacant spaces and focusing on seasonal trends. This model allows them to quickly set up shop, bring in customers, and then exit once the season is over. The same concept is now being applied to Christmas.
- Unique customer experience: Spirit Halloween stores are known for being more than just shopping destinations—they’re immersive experiences. Spirit Christmas is bringing that same touch of magic to the winter holidays with its interactive displays and Santa meet-and-greets, differentiating itself from traditional big-box holiday retailers.
- Nostalgia-driven sales: Much like Halloween, Christmas is a holiday steeped in tradition and nostalgia. Consumers aren’t just looking for products; they’re looking for experiences that bring holiday memories to life. Spirit Christmas taps into this sentimentality with its gingerbread village and festive atmosphere.
- Leveraging existing infrastructure: Many Spirit Christmas locations will be taking over existing Spirit Halloween stores, allowing the company to maximize its use of leased spaces while minimizing the costs associated with opening new stores.
Spirit Halloween’s Response to SNL and Public Attention
Spirit Halloween’s foray into the Christmas season comes at a time when the brand has been enjoying heightened visibility in popular culture. Recently, Saturday Night Live (SNL) aired a parody of Spirit Halloween’s pop-up business model, playfully mocking the chain’s fleeting nature. Spirit Halloween took the joke in stride, responding on X (formerly Twitter) with a cheeky post tagging SNL and humorously referring to the show as an "irrelevant 50-year-old TV show." This playful interaction highlights the brand’s self-awareness and ability to engage with its audience in a light-hearted, relatable way. This kind of public engagement only increases the brand's visibility, helping Spirit Halloween maintain its quirky and fun image, which is now spilling over into Spirit Christmas.
The Future of Spirit Christmas
It’s still early days for Spirit Christmas, but if the model proves successful, we could see more of these holiday-themed pop-up stores in the future. With Christmas retail being a huge part of the US economy, there’s plenty of room for Spirit Christmas to grow and expand beyond its initial ten stores. As Spirit Halloween broadens its seasonal reach, one thing is clear: the brand is no longer just synonymous with Halloween. By tapping into the holiday spirit with its new venture, Spirit Christmas is poised to become a new holiday tradition for families across the Northeast.
