Current:Home > InvestHalloween in July is happening. But Spirit Halloween holds out for August. Here's when stores open -MacroWatch
Halloween in July is happening. But Spirit Halloween holds out for August. Here's when stores open
View
Date:2025-04-14 02:25:04
It's still summer, but you may feel a chill in the air: It's coming from Spirit Halloween, which is scaring up its annual retail assault to bring shoppers nationwide everything Halloween.
The pop-up retailer, which takes over local storefronts for a few months each year, is expected to open more than 1,500 locations in August. The Spencer Gifts-owned subsidiary began prepping for the 2024 holiday season in June with its search for up to 50,000 seasonal employees.
Halloween has become a monster holiday, with consumer spending hitting records each of the last three years – $12.2 billion in 2023, according to the National Retail Federation.
And the opening of Spirit Halloween is a key milestone on the path to the holiday.
Christmas already?:Hallmark releases 250 brand new Christmas ornaments for 2024
What is Spirit Halloween?
A Halloween-focused company, Spirit Halloween opened its first pop-up store in the Bay area in 1983. Purchased by Spencer Gifts in 1999, the company has grown to more than 1,500 seasonal locations across the U.S.
Spirit Halloween does have a website open throughout the year where you can buy costumes, decorations and giant towering animatronic characters including the 6.2-foot-tall Art the Clown Terrifier ($199.99) a 10-foot-tall Giant Death Ray Animatronic extraterrestrial ($349.99; spaceship not included).
When does Spirit Halloween stores open for 2024?
Spirit Halloween has announced its flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, will open Thursday, Aug. 1, with a special grand opening celebration.
The company did not respond to queries about when other stores would open. However, job descriptions for store manager and sales associate say work starts on or about Aug. 1. The Spirit Halloween site suggests returning to the site on Aug. 1 to find your local store.
Target, Home Depot among stores with Halloween animatronic toys
Spirit Halloween isn't the only retailer unearthing a squad of scary towering Halloween decorations.
Home Depot has unveiled its 2024 Halloween lineup, which includes a new, limited edition model of its 12-foot skeleton Skelly with a rotating head, called "Servo Skelly," available online only for $379. Also available: the original $299 Skelly, which helped jumpstart the animatronic craze when it went viral in 2020.
Other new offerings include Skelly's dog ($199), which stands at 7 feet long, and a 7-foot-tall animated Frankenstein's monster ($279).
Target recently also unveiled its Halloween lineup and it includes some monsters, too. Returning is last year's hit purchase Lewis the Pumpkin Ghoul ($180), an 8-foot pumpkin-headed figure with a face that lights up and makes noises. There's also an 8-foot Bruce the Skelton Ghoul ($180), whose eyes and rib cage glow.
Lewis is joined by a quartet of new pumpkin-headed decorations: a 70-inch motion and sound-activated guitarist Pumpkin Rocker Billy ($150), plus hanging decorations the 65-inch Little Lewis ($30) with a pumpkin head that lights up, Pumpkin Iron Lewcy ($20), a light-up ghoul pumping dumbbells, and Baby Lewis ($10), which also lights up.
Halloween 2024: Decorations go big
Other stores going big into animatronics include:
- Costco: It has a 7-foot animated pumpkin-head scarecrow ($224.99). But its Giant Ground Breaking Skeleton ($249.99-$330), which is more than 5 feet tall – and stretches across more than 9 feet – was sold out for some on the Costco site on Friday, but has been spotted in stores – and on reselling sites such as ebay.com for more than $700.
- Party City: Among its scary products is a 9.7-foot Dr. Payne the Fire Eater on Stilts ($324.99).
- HalloweenCostumes.com: Its selection includes moving 6-foot Freddy Krueger, Michael Meyers, Pennywise the Clown, and Nightmare Before Christmas characters, all priced at $299.
Contributing: James Powel and Mary Walrath-Holdridge.
Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.
What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- Preparing homes for wildfires is big business that's only getting started
- Providence's hurricane barrier is ready for Hurricane Lee. Here's how it will work.
- Environmental groups urge regulators to shut down California reactor over safety, testing concerns
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- Manhunt ends after Cavalcante capture, Biden's polling low on economy: 5 Things podcast
- Apple picking season? In Colorado, you can pick your own hemp
- California school district agrees to pay $27 million to settle suit over death of 13-year-old assaulted by fellow students
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- 'Look how big it is!': Watch as alligator pursues screaming children in Texas
Ranking
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- On 60th anniversary of church bombing, victim’s sister, suspect’s daughter urge people to stop hate
- Citing sustainability, Starbucks wants to overhaul its iconic cup. Will customers go along?
- Around 3,000 jobs at risk at UK’s biggest steelworks despite government-backed package of support
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- 'Look how big it is!': Watch as alligator pursues screaming children in Texas
- Bangladesh is struggling to cope with a record dengue outbreak in which 778 people have died
- Hurricane Lee to strike weather-worn New England after heavy rain, flooding and tornadoes
Recommendation
Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
She danced with Putin at her wedding. Now the former Austrian foreign minister has moved to Russia
Up First briefing: UAW strike; Birmingham church bombing anniversary; NPR news quiz
Striking Hollywood writers, studios to resume negotiations next week
Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
Striking Hollywood writers, studios to resume negotiations next week
Governor appoints central Nebraska lawmaker to fill vacant state treasurer post
An eye in the sky nabbed escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante. It's sure to be used more in US