Fall foliage on wet sidewalks, pumpkin spice infiltrating every fiber of our being, and Patagonia jackets popping up as far as the eye can see. All sure signs that fall is in full swing and the spookiest time of the year is right around the corner. But there’s one harbinger of the Halloween season that, in our opinion, stands above the rest.
They roll in with the first fog of the season, setting up shop seemingly overnight. Then, just as quickly, they disappear until they’re needed again next year. We’re talking, of course, about Spirit Halloween stores.
While they may seem like a visiting entity that just materializes out of thin air, they aren’t. Spirit Halloweens take the space vacated by other retailers to spread their spooky cheer until it’s time to trade in our witch costumes for gravy boats and tinsel. But that begs the question: what retail locations are most likely to transform into a Spirit Halloween?
So, put on “The Monster Mash” and grab a few handfuls of candy corn—we’re about to uncover which retail spaces are most often transformed into Spirit Halloween stores near you.
Which Retail Locations Become Spirit Halloween Stores Most Often?
From defunct retailers to downsized chains, Spirit Halloween has a knack for moving into highly-trafficked spaces for a few months to provide all things Halloween to the people who crave it most. But what businesses are most often turned into the seasonal stores come September?
We looked at locations in major U.S. cities to find out which recognizable retailers’ storefronts are most often turned into Spirit Halloweens.
- Bed, Bath, & Beyond – 8.57% of Spirit Halloween locations in our study used to be Bed, Bath, & Beyond stores.
- Rite Aid – 8.1%
- Tuesday Morning – 5.63%
- CVS – 4.34%
- Sears – 3.64%
Of all the stores we analyzed, Bed, Bath, & Beyond is the business most commonly transformed into Spirit Halloween for the season, which makes sense considering the big-box retailer filed for bankruptcy in April 2023 and it won’t need that retail space anymore. Nearly 9% of all locations we looked at were most recently Bed, Bath, & Beyonds.
Rite Aid is another retailer that often sees its locations become a bit scarier come fall time, as just over 8% of all Spirit Halloweens we analyzed used to be storefronts for the large drugstore. Another pharmacy, CVS, also sees its stores become Spirit Halloweens fairly regularly.
These familiar brands have paved the way for Spirit Halloween’s seasonal takeover, turning once-bustling retail hubs into spooky shopping spots each fall. Next, we’ll dive into more local data on former Halloween Spirit locations across the U.S.
The Retail Stores Most Often Turned into Spirit Halloween Locations in U.S. Cities
As we continued looking into the former inhabitants of Spirit Halloween locations, we noticed some interesting regional trends in the cities we analyzed.
If you’re interested in finding out which stores are most commonly transformed into seasonal hotspots in your city, we created an interactive map that lets you explore the data in your area. Click on any region to get a closer look at the retail stores that most often turn into Spirit Halloween locations.
Here are a few interesting trends from our study, highlighting the cities where specific retailers are most frequently converted into Spirit Halloweens.
The cities below have the highest percentages of Spirit Halloween stores that previously occupied a single type of retailer. For example, in Allentown, PA, 50% of Spirit Halloweens were formerly Rite Aid locations. Similarly, in Knoxville, TN, 40% of these stores took over Tuesday Morning spaces, while in Boise, ID, 37.5% of Spirit Halloweens also replaced former Rite Aids.
Below are the other cities where Spirit Halloween has consistently transformed one specific type of retailer into their seasonal stores:
- Sacramento, CA: Rite Aid (36.4%)
- San Francisco, CA: Rite Aid (35.7%)
- Akron, OH: Bed, Bath, & Beyond (33.3%)
- Rochester, NY: Burlington Coat Factory (33.3%)
- Springfield, MA: Sears (33.3%)
- Austin, TX: Tuesday Morning (33.3%)
- Las Vegas, NV: 99 Cents Store (30.8%)
Recognizable retailers often make way for Spirit Halloween stores toward the end of the summer. This metamorphosis is especially noticeable in cities like Allentown, Sacramento, and Las Vegas, where certain brands seem to dominate the transformation.
Closing Thoughts
You need to make room for the holidays. For Halloween, that literally means making retail space available for Spirit Halloween locations. Businesses of all kinds will undergo this seasonal transformation to make all things spooky more available, but some do it much more often than others. Whether it’s pharmacies, department stores, or discount chains, Spirit Halloween makes the most of empty storefronts in cities across the U.S., ready to supply costumes and décor for the fall festivities. And we can’t thank them enough for it!
At BetMGM, we celebrate all things entertainment and excitement. For many this time of year, that means flocking to Spirit Halloween to gear up for some spooky fun and good times. After all, Halloween (whether it’s a sugar rush or costume party) is all about the thrills—something that BetMGM can always get behind, especially with its spooky-themed slots such as Franksylvania, Halloween Jack, Halloween Riches, and Ghostbusters games.
If you’re looking to keep the excitement going long after the pumpkins are smashed and the costumes are put away, BetMGM online slot games can add a little extra thrill to your cozy fall evenings.
Methodology
To determine the businesses that are most commonly turned into Spirit Halloween stores, we scraped store location data within 25 miles of over 125 U.S. cities from Spirit Halloween’s stores page. Many of the listings tell you what the store formerly was. We used this information to find the percentage of former locations by city, region, and overall.
