Get into the holiday spirit.
Spirit Halloween ā the festive haunt that pops up in vacašnt storefronts to sell costumes, accessories aš nd decor ā will soon transform into a winter wonderland and become , just in time for the holidays.
The festive chain retailer will sell inflatable decor, stocking stuffers, apparel and gifts at select locations in the Northš“east ā from Mays Landing, New Jersey, to Erie, Pennsylvania ā where shoppers can step inside a life-sized gingerbread village, mail a letter to the North Pole and meet Santa Claus for a photo-op.
“Spirit Christmas is a new concept for us, and weāre hopeful it will resonate with our customers,ā the company said in a statement to .
“Our goal is to create a festive retail experience that captures the spirit of the season, much like we do for Halloween.”
Spirit Halloween started in 1983 as a pop-up in Castro Valley, California, before it was purcš¼hased in 1999 by Spencer Gifts, who has owned the iconic storefronts āever since.
“They laughed at me and put me in a corner hidden behind an old restaurant. When I did $100,000 in 30 days, they were astounded,ā founder Joe Marver told the New York Times in a 2000 interview, per .
Now Spirit Halloween operates more than 1,500 seasonal stores nationwide everšy single year.
Spirit Christmas, however,šØ willš only be available at 10 locations.
In New Jersey, festive shoppers can head to Marlton, Brick, Mays Landing and Woodbridge, and New Yorkers will have to travel to Albany, Bohemia or Poughkeepsie to visit onš e of the storefronts. There will also be pop-ups in Erie, Pennsylvania; Waterford, Connecticut; and Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
The Mays Landing, New Jersey, location will open its doors early, on October 18, while the rest are sšlated for early November, per Fast Company.
Spirit Halloween became the punchline of a “Saturday Night Live” skit last week, which elicited pushback from the holiday pop-up retailer.
After one of the sketches poked fun at Spirit Halloween, the company posted a meme on X of a photoshopped costume package emblazoned with the “SNL 50” logo. The fake costume, titled “irrelevant 50-year-old TV show,” said it included “dated references,” “unknown cast members” and “shrinking ratings.”
“We’re great at raising things back from the dead,” the company quipped.
