"The store that kinda just appears one night in your local mall like an apparition only has a few months to make a year's worth of revenue. But thanks to its ~1,500 pop-up locations and 50,000 seasonal workers, Spirit Halloween remains the king of spooky spending. The early aughts mall icon Spencer Gifts bought Spirit in 1999, and when current Spencer's CEO Steven Silverstein started in 2003, the Halloween retailer had just 130 stores around the US."
"Moody's Ratings recently estimated that Spencer's and Spirit made about $1.9 billion in 2023-with with Spirit bringing in more than Spencer's. The key to success, which has long been immortalized in memes, has been Spirit's commitment to scooping up short-term leases, especially after bankrupt big-box stores leave: The company has always chased nontraditional, monthslong leases, for which commercial landlords usually charge higher fees. But the growing number of big-box vacancies in the last decade has given Spirit more leverage."
Spirit Halloween operates roughly 1,500 temporary pop-up locations staffed by about 50,000 seasonal workers and concentrates nearly all sales into a few months each year. Spencer Gifts acquired Spirit in 1999; the retailer expanded from about 130 stores in 2003 to a national pop-up network. Moody's estimated combined Spencer's and Spirit revenue at about $1.9 billion in 2023, with Spirit contributing the larger share. The retailer focuses on short-term, monthslong leases and targets vacant big-box spaces, gaining leverage from rising big-box vacancies and lower competition for sites by midsummer. The company plans 30 pop-up Christmas locations after Halloween.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]