When we shop we shop with the Spirit

A couple of years ago, when Spirit Halloween somehow managed to turn itself into an actual movie, it pretty much solidified what had already been happening for years: Spirit Halloween had become part of pop culture and annual traditions..

For decades, the annual appearance of a Spirit Halloween has been one of the first unofficial signs that summer is dying. Suddenly, your favorite dilapidated former Ames, Kmart, Sears, or whatever other retail chain disappeared 15 years ago has a giant orange SPIRIT HALLOWEEN banner hanging across the front.

Those sliding doors open once again.. and large animatronics greet you in earnest..

THE HAUNTING EXPANSION

Spirit Halloween is part of Spencer Spirit Holdings, the company behind Spencer’s, and now that retail family is apparently about to become a behemoth.

Spencer Spirit Holdings, Inc. announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Sycamore Partners to acquire Hot Topic, Inc. and its portfolio of brands: Hot Topic, BoxLunch, and Her Universe.

That would put six pretty recognizable retail concepts under one corporate umbrella and give the combined company a footprint of more than 3,000 stores across North America.

Think about that for a second.

Spirit Halloween. Spencer’s. Hot Topic. BoxLunch. Her Universe.

This is basically the Avengers of people who buy Halloween decorations, Stranger Things shirts, anime merchandise, lava lamps, Funko Pops, and things they absolutely did not intend to purchase when they walked into the mall.

And this also has us wondering about something else.

Spirit Christmas has already started appearing. So if the Spirit empire keeps growing, how long before the abandoned retail spaces of America simply belong to Spirit year-round?

Spirit Christmas.

Spirit Easter.

Spirit Valentine’s Day.

Spirit Fourth of July.

And while we’re at it, why not Spirit Indigenous Peoples’ Day?

The Spirit will never leave.

I think everyone would be fine with that.

Because Spirit Halloween openings over the last couple of years — and especially this year — have started becoming more than just a date on the calendar. They’re becoming actual events. There’s music. There’s cosplay. There are crowds waiting for the doors to open.

Adults temporarily pausing their day jobs, bills, responsibilities and ordinary lives for a brief lapse into ghoulish immaturity.

No judgment here. We will most likely be stopping at just about every Spirit Halloween we see over the next several weeks as the fall decorating season begins.

So get ready.

A lot more retail space may soon be donning the Spirit family logo.

And we have a feeling that someday it might not just be Halloween.

Coming soon to a closed-down former retail space near you:

Spirit Everything..