Spirit Halloween
Spirit Halloween
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Spirit Halloween

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Spirit Halloween

Spirit Halloween Superstores, LLC is an American seasonal retailer that supplies Halloween products, the United States' largest retailer of such products. It is currently owned by Spencer Gifts. It was founded in 1983 and began in the Castro Valley "Village Shopping Center" in the San Francisco East Bay Area, California, and has headquarters in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. In 1999, the store had 60 seasonal locations. By 2020, the number of stores had grown to over 1,400 locations.

During the Halloween season, Spirit operates over 1,600 store locations in North America. The Spirit Halloween website is open year-round, offering its in-store products online. The store carries decor manufactured by Gemmy Industries, Tekky Design, YJ, Seasonal Visions International, Crazy Create, NewRaySun, Party Time Latex Art And Crafts Factory, Tailuxe Artware, Seasons USA, Pan Asian Creations and more. Many decorations are exclusive to Spirit.

In early summer Spirit Halloween typically puts out teaser videos on social media and YouTube to create excitement for new items. A few days later the videos are followed by another one officially revealing and announcing the item.

The retailer makes use of vacant retail space. The stores typically operate for 60 to 90 days, opening sometime in early to mid-August and usually closing two or three days after Halloween.

Joe Marver created the Spirit Halloween business model, a pop-up store catering to Halloween revelers. A dress retailer, he replaced his store's usual merchandise with Halloween items in 1983 and named the store after his Spirit Women's Discount Apparel business. The following year, he opened the first year round location in the Castro Valley Village Shopping Center in 1984. He grew Spirit Halloween to 60 seasonal stores nationwide before it was acquired by Spencer Gifts in 1999. His approach to short-term leases, locations, and the stocking of widely varied merchandise was novel in the Halloween retail sector.

Spirit Halloween began selling items on its website in 2005. By 2006, it operated 434 temporary stores in 46 states. In October 2016, a store in Nebraska removed Native American costumes after the state's Indigenous community said they were irreverent to their culture. However, the corporate office ordered the costumes put back on the shelves, prompting a wider debate on cultural appropriation.

On October 21, 2016, Health Canada recalled eight products from Spirit Halloween, for fire hazards and choking hazards. Despite promising to cease sales, 23 of its stores continued to sell products that had been recalled when Health Canada visited 45 stores across Canada.

In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the company opened 1,400 stores. Halloween sales are consistently solid even in uncertain economic times.

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