After years of focusing on spooky season, Spirit Halloween is ready to deck the halls for the holidays. The retailer known for moving into vacant storefronts in towns across the country every fall and packing up shop November 1st is planning to stick around for a little longer this year. The temporary retail chain has announced they’ll be opening pop-up Christmas stores around the Northeast.
There will be 10 Spirit Christmas shops opening at malls, most in early November, and they’ll stay open throughout the holiday season. The first one is in Mays Landing, New Jersey, which opens October 18th, and stores in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania will follow. Some of them will be taking over Spirit Halloweens and others will be opening in new locations and instead of a skeleton mascot at the front to greet shoppers, they’ll have a giant winking Santa Claus.
There will be a real Santa there as well, so kids can tell him what they want for Christmas and even take home a free photo of their visit with him. According to a spokesperson for the company, each store will be unique, and will have lots of holiday décor, apparel, inflatables, gifts, and stocking stuffers, as well as a life-sized gingerbread village shoppers can stroll through and mail a letter to Santa at the North Pole.
All of the stores offer “aisles full of Christmas magic,” including stocking stuffers, holiday apparel, gifts and décor, as well as family photos with Santa.
The stores will be open in the following cities:
- Erie, Pa.
- Albany, N.Y.
- Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
- Bohemia, N.Y.
- Brick Township, N.J.
- Mays Landing, N.J.
- Marlton, N.J.
- Woodbridge, N.J.
- Dartmouth, Mass.
- Waterford, Conn.
- Spirit Christmas is already taking online reservations for Santa visits on their website.
Source: People