Spirit Halloween is expanding into the Christmas market with Spirit Christmas stores.
Forbes has reported that the retailer will open its first Spirit Christmas shop in Mays Landing, N.J. on 18 October, along with nine other temporary stores in November.
There will be four Spirit Christmas stores in New Jersey, three in New York, and one each in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
“Our goal is to create a festive retail experience that captures the spirit of the season, much like we do for Halloween,” a company spokesperson said.
The new shops are a test to see if US customers respond favourably to Christmas pop-up shops.
Forbes reports that currently, much of the seasonal decorating market in the US is dominated by Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s, which use spaces in their stores for holiday shops every autumn.
Spirit Halloween appears to be using a similar approach as it does with its Halloween stores for the Christmas roll-out, using the “more than just a shopping trip” philosophy. The company’s website is promoting photos with Santa opportunities at the Spirit Christmas stores, and offering free digital photos with Santa. The stores also will feature life-sized gingerbread villages, where visitors can post letters to Santa.
Each of the 10 stores will offer “a unique shopping experience, brimming with a vast assortment of holiday decor, apparel, inflatables, gifts and stocking stuffers,” the spokesperson said.
