It may still be summer, but Halloween stores are starting to pop up in previously vacant commercial spaces around the country.
Most brick-and-mortar stores stay in one location for years, but Spirit Halloween is only open for a few months of the year, often in different pop-up locations from one year to the next.
A spokesperson for Spirit Halloween said they were reluctant to “reveal our operational secrets,” but did give some insight into how the company chooses its locations for each spooky season.
“We look to identify stores in lifestyle centers, strip centers, free-standing stores, major downtown retail locations, and in major malls that are surrounded by a national retailer mix. Ideal locations for a Spirit Halloween store offer between 5,000 and 50,000 square feet of sales floor space with great visibility,” the spokesperson said.
According to the website, the company looks for three-month leases in buildings with a large footprint available. To make sure they attract enough business, the company aims to set up in communities with a population of around 35,000 people living within a 3 to 5 mile radius of the store.
The stores typically close within a week or two after Halloween.