Spirit Halloween to open 10 Spirit Christmas stores for holiday season

Spirit Halloween is expanding its seasonal presence with a new concept called Spirit Christmas and is opening 10 stores through the holiday season.

The flagship store in Mays Landing, New Jersey, opens on October 18, with the others following in November. These stores will offer holiday inflatables, decor, and activities like photos with Santa and writing letters to the North Pole.

Customers can expect a “life-sized” gingerbread village too.

Holiday season is big business
According to the National Retail Federation, holiday retail sales reached $964.4 billion in 2023, growing 3.8%. Deloitte estimates a 2.3% to 3.3% growth in 2024, with e-commerce leading at 7% to 9%.

However, Spirit Christmas will not offer online shopping options, adding some risk to the venture.

Meanwhile, Amazon is gearing up for the holidays and plans to hire 250,000 workers to manage demand this holiday season.

Will the festive gamble pay off?
Holiday spending in 2024 may face headwinds due to the upcoming presidential election and an intense hurricane season. Spirit Halloween’s Christmas experiment will test whether shoppers engage with new concepts.