Spirit Halloween

Spirit Halloween, LLC is an American seasonal retailer that supplies Halloween decorations, costumes, props and accessories. It is the country's largest Halloween retailer. It was founded in 1983 and is based in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. In 1999, the store had 60 seasonal locations and was purchased by Spencer Gifts. Today, the pop-up retailer has over a thousand locations across the United States and Canada.
==Business operations==
During the Halloween season, Spirit operates over 1,400 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 Tekky Design, Gemmy, Yu Jun, Seasonal Visions International, Crazy Create, NewRaySun, PartyTime Costume, Seasons USA, Morbid Enterprises,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.
==Spirit Halloween's start==
Joe Marver created the Spirit Halloween business model, a pop-up store catering to Halloween revelers. Starting with his first pop-up location in the Castro Valley Mall in 1984, he grew Spirit Halloween to 60 seasonal stores nationwide before it was acquired in 1999. His approach to short-term leases, locations, and the stocking of widely varied merchandise was novel in the Halloween retail sector.
Today, the Spirit Halloween network of pop-up stores is bigger than any other specialty retailer in the category, with new ownership expanding Marver’s original concept to more than 1,100 locations across North America. Spirit Halloween serves a Halloween consumer market estimated at $8.4 billion dollars yearly, according to the National Retail Federation. Despite online shopping creating challenges for brick and mortar stores, Spirit thrives with in person purchases-possibly due to its relatively lower overhead with seasonal rentals of the physical spaces.
==Spirit of Children==
In 2006, Spirit launched a program called Spirit of Children to raise money in-store for children's hospitals. The program annually celebrates Halloween at hospital locations, supplying costumes and decorations for the events. Since 2007, Spirit of Children has raised over $29 million in donations.
==Health Canada Recall==
On October 21, 2016, Health Canada recalled eight products from Spirit Halloween, for fire hazards and choking hazards. Despite promising to cease sales, Health Canada visited 45 stores across Canada and found that 23 stores continued to sell products that had been recalled.
==Film==
Main article: Spirit Halloween: The Movie
On April 11, 2022, it was announced that a film adaptation starring Christopher Lloyd and Rachael Leigh Cook is in development, with Strike Back Studios, Hideout Pictures, and Particular Crowd coproducing, David Boag directing in his feature directorial debut, and Billie Bates writing. On July 31, 2022, the first teaser was released. The film was shot in Rome, Georgia and Nashville, Tennessee.
Category:Halloween Stores
Category:Retailers
Category:Companies
Category:Franchises
Category:Brands
Category:Seasonal retailers
Category:Companies founded in the United States
Category:North America
Category:USA