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Halloween costumes for children on the walls of the Spirit Halloween store. Like the pumpkin patch, seasonal pop-up shops signal that fall is on its way.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
In the spooky world of commerce, there is one name that dominates the rest. It’s Spirit Halloween. Seasonal retailers sell costumes, decorations, and just about anything else you might need for Halloween.
Despite only being open from early August to early November, Spirit Halloween has become as much a part of the fall season as pumpkin patches and sweater weather, with more than 1,400 locations across the United States in Canada. It is not difficult to understand why.
Spirit Halloween is everywhere. They appear seemingly overnight, occupy empty buildings, then disappear, and the same cycle repeats next year.
pop culture staple
The retailer has taken such deep roots as part of the season that it has made its way into internet memes.
Some have taken their love of retailers a step further. Singer-songwriter and self-proclaimed “current Halloween King” Nick Rutsko produced a song about a retail chain aptly titled “Spirit Halloween Theme.”
Lutsko partnered with the company to produce a popular trilogy of videos last year.
According to Lutsko, a chain’s prominence in pop culture comes down to consistency.
“It’s a physical manifestation of Halloween. You’re driving to work and the Spirit Halloween pops up—and it’s like, ‘OK, that’s happening.'”
How Spirit Halloween Fills the Hole Left by Other Retailers
The spirit Halloween story beneath the songs and memes is exactly one of the patterns of urban development.
Perhaps most of all, Spirit’s business model revolves around space. a lot. Spirit looks for spaces between 5,000 and 50,000 square feet, but in the company’s own words, “no store is too big (or too small).” No problem finding the space you need.
When you drop a zip code or address into your company’s store locator, you’ll see a series of orange arrows.
The company finds much of this space in abandoned buildings: closed malls, retailers that have filed for bankruptcy, and more.
“Spirit is a bottom-feeder business that works mostly at the expense of other stores. Without empty stores, this business wouldn’t exist,” says Rachel, program director for urban planning advocacy group Strong Towns. Kudanau writes. A group that emphasizes progressive urban planning.
From January to August, the company scours the country, spending time looking for temporary rental properties. A large part of the reason this is a credible process for Spirit Halloween is that these abandoned spaces cannot be used within the local economy.
Why there is empty space in the first place
Spirit Halloween is a byproduct of what Strong Towns calls The Suburban Experiment, an approach to urban development that invests heavily in permanent structures. A large retail building is a classic example of this. This kind of development requires a large up-front investment, and if the chain goes bankrupt, for example, it is difficult to reclaim the space created.
For example, if Sears or Toys R Us closes down, finding another tenant to take over the space won’t be easy.
“So many businesses, like small restaurants or small clothing stores, would not be able to afford or need such a huge space at all,” said Quednau. morning paper.
That’s where the Spirit store comes in. The company takes these abandoned spaces and reclaims them. Temporarily revive an empty building during the spookiest time of the year.
Spirit The Halloween phenomenon is one of holiday celebration, but also one of urban planning and innovation. Currently, the free market can’t figure out what to do with the abandoned retail space, and until it does, Spirit Halloween will likely continue to make a comeback.
This story was originally morning paper live blog.
Copyright 2022 NPR. For more information, please visit https://www.npr.org.
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