Surprise! Spirit Halloween To Become Spirit Christmas in Boise
When news broke earlier this month that Spirit Halloween stores were toying with the idea of staying open after Halloween to quickly rebrand and become Spirit Christmas, people all over the country checked to see if the Spirit store near them was on the list to bring Holiday cheer. At the time, Spirit confirmed that 10 stores, all in the Eastern United States, would be making the holiday transition.
The 10 stores listed on the Spirit website were believed to be the only ones transitioning to Christmas. However, it seems more likely that those 10 stores are just the only ones taking photos with Santa and are getting an early promotional push from the company.
Spirit Halloween has a genius business model, taking over empty retail spaces on cut-rate, short-term leases. They have over 1,500 locations in the United States and Canada, including seven in the Treasure Valley. Moody's estimated they were responsible for 16% of all U.S. Halloween costume sales in 2015. That number works out to $400M. Not bad for a business that is only open for two months. Because the business is private, we don't have access to the company's actual financials. Still, if that percentage holds, Spirit would do at least $608M of the estimated $3.8 Billion Halloween costume revenue in 2024. No wonder Spencer's was so eager to buy the company in 1999.
The company is charitable. Asking guests to round up, along with donations from their vendors and business partners, has allowed them to give over $510,410 to St. Luke's Children's Hospital since 2010 through their Spirit of Children program.
While there is no public information about the stores in the Boise area making the switch to Christmas, at least one Boise store is planning to transition. The employees of the Spirit Halloween at Fairview and Five Mile Road in Boise have been asked to stay on past Christmas. These employees have been told that the store will transition to the Spirit Christmas brand immediately following Halloween and to expect some long hours while the store makes the switch from spooky to jolly.
The employees were told to keep this information confidential, but lucky for us, some of them are overly enthusiastic gift-givers who just can't help but tell their siblings what they're getting for Christmas.
We're looking forward to seeing what the company that has become so famous for Halloween retail that they got their own movie last year can do for the retail-ification of Christmas.
All 11 Idaho Spirit Halloween Locations for 2024
Gallery Credit: Michelle Heart
LOOK: 13 Things That Will Make You Nostalgic for Halloween in the '80s
Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz
LOOK: Classic Halloween costumes from 1865 to today
Gallery Credit: Stacker
New Halloween Candy Making Its Debut in 2024
Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll