Short Stuff: The Story of Spirit Halloween | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. hey and welcome to the short stuff I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's here. too sitting in for Dave of course and. that makes the short stuff. wo uh big thanks to medium NPR. strongtown dorg the list and Bloomberg. for. this about I'll bet I can I'll bet I can. guess the strong town.org SE section I. want to read part of it okay okay so.

Chuck we're talking today about Spirit. Halloween uh not the spirit of Halloween. as Jerry likes to say just Spirit. Halloween that's right um and if you. live outside of the United States you. might not know what that is as far as I. know they're not out of North America. yet but just give it some time as. Halloween spreads so too will Spirit. Halloween Spirit Halloween in the US is. well known for being essentially a giant. Halloween popup store that Sprout up.

like mushrooms all over the country in. um abandoned Mall well old malls uh old. big box stores that are no longer in use. strip malls anywhere they can set up. shop with about 7,000 to 10,000 square. ft and start selling a Halloween. schmorgus Board of stuff that's right. they have more than uh I think more than. 1500 I also sell 1400 so somewhere in. that range of stores uh again only. seasonal location.

and it has become a meme uh that's kind. of fun around Halloween um whenever. there's an abandoned thing or anything. that would be funny to put a Spirit. Halloween banner across uh one of the. most fun ones I saw was when like the US. government shuts down because they can't. agree on a funding bill uh there will be. like a Spirit Halloween Banner uh memd. over the White House that kind of thing. uh because that's what they do uh I I. looked up to just for funsies Atlanta.

the Metro Atlanta area has 21 Spirit. Halloweens this year wow um maybe. someday we'll get to that. 22 maybe I mean some just within miles. of one another yeah uh but this is not. the most unusual thing in the world. there's a long tradition of popups and. seasonal popups uh here in North America. certainly around Christmas time with. Christmas tree lots uh some seasonal. Christmas Shops opening up and popping. up uh flea markets that kind of thing uh.

America is well known for having these. kind of temporary businesses that pop up. for you know a a week or two maybe in. this case a short season and then they. shut it down and that place is now a. parking lot again or uh an old uh Rich. way that is no longer in. business so this is the part that I'm. guessing where strong town.org comes in. because this section seems really. emphatic about discussing how great.

popup stores are for local. communities i' like to read because I. think it's. awesome yes there's plenty to like and. appreciate about a temporary shop that. provides an opportunity for. entrepreneurs to sell their wees and. activates an empty space yeah that was. definitely from strong toown. St so uh back to Spirit Halloween. because yes there's other seasonal popup. stores but this is the seasonal popup. store we're talking about um it was. founded about 40 years ago in the early.

80s by a guy named Joe marver um and he. didn't start out selling Halloween stuff. he sold he started out selling. reasonably priced women's apparel yeah. the store was called just Spirit oh. women's discount apparel was a little. wordy uh as The Story Goes he was uh. working in that store or you know owning. that store and working there I guess uh. in October looked across the street and. there was a Halloween costume shop that. was killing it.

uh and he was just like nobody's buying. my discounted women's apparel everyone's. buying these Halloween costumes look at. this dress with these shoulder pads who. could turn this down it's almost a. costume in. itself uh and he was like all right um. I'm struggling here they seem to be on. to something eventually that uh like. that's where the seed is planted. eventually that costume shop uh moves. locations and then Joe sees his. opportunity and was like nuts to these. dresses they're going in storage.

October's approaching fast and I'm going. to sell Halloween stuff and he sells. through the roof and is like I'm on to. something here so yes he has the best. October he's ever had like you said he. thinks he's on to something so the next. year he does it again but this time. rather than put all his dresses in. storage he leases a temporary space so. you're starting to see like the Contours. of Spirit Halloween forming at the edges. here and um in 30 days he sells 100 ,000.

I'm assuming early 80s $100,000 yeah it. was worth of Halloween stuff in in just. again 30 days um and he was like I'm. definitely on to something here I'm. going to go all in on this Halloween. thing and sure I'll sell some dresses. during the rest of the year but this. Halloween thing is really a big deal to. me now yeah and uh this is a quote that. I've actually seen from Joe marber that. I still can't make sense of I didn't. invent temporary sales but I feel like I.

invented temporary Halloween yeah I. don't understand that cuz what is. permanent Halloween yeah Halloween had. been like a a 12mon out of the Year. tradition until Joe marver came along. right I guess so so that one that's just. sort of a funny quote he seems like that. kind of guy so uh I say we take a break. and we'll come back and talk about how. the thing Grew From that one that one. empty store to would you say 1500. locations 21 of them in Atlanta alone. yeah. [Music].

stuff you should. know. [Music]. Jerry these guys.

know should know Stu you should know. should know all right so Joe marber is. crushing it uh over the next 15 years he. grows to about 60 popups this is roughly. 97 998 or so and the name of the store. is officially Spirit Halloween by that. point it changed along the way and he. said you know one of the big keys to his. growth plan is presents like Billboards. and stuff like that ads uh getting like. you mentioned uh maybe up to a ,000 squ.

foot storefront hopefully close to. another big anchor store like a Walmart. or a Target or something like that or. maybe a popular shopping center and then. to expand uh the other key was is to. expand Beyond just costume so you can. get like anything Halloween in there. decorations are a big big part of what. they sell yeah you want a plastic battle. axe to use for your laring during the. rest of the year you go to Spirit. Halloween here in the United. States that's right but you better do it. between August and November yeah it's.

crazy that they even open in early. August but I guess that's true even. though it turns out that they do most of. their business the last two weeks of. October which duh yeah I can't remember. there was a Simpsons episode that um. where somebody invested in pumpkin. Futures and that they paid off in like. November I can't remember who that. happened to I want to say Principal. Skinner but that doesn't sound right. that's.

funny so um it turns out that Joe marver. doesn't own Spirit Halloween anymore he. founded it but he also sold it in in. 1999 he was probably worried about the. Y2K bug and he's like this is your. problem now and he sold it to Spencer's. Gifts which makes a lot of sense now. that I hear it and I believe Spencer is. still around I think it's gone more. toward like a a journey or a Pacific. Coast kind of place um whereas before it.

was this weird mashup of everything sexy. yeah uh bongy yeah um grateful. daddy uh like the weird plasma ball that. you touch and the electricity goes to. your hand but somehow it doesn't. electrocute you like all of that stuff. was in Spencer's Gifts it was the place. to go in the mall when you were 10 years. old in the the'80s oh you bet especially. if you were a young Baptist kid cuz you. could you could be like hey mom I'm. going to go over here to look at.

posters and uh you know the posters were. probably women in bikinis on a. Lamborghini uh there was also the foten. section remember that one that had uh. all manner of bedroom toys yeah like. like like legit ones not just like gag. gifts no like like you know the Heavy. Hitters right there was actually one. called The Heavy hitter there probably. was but yeah you could if you were in. the wrong part of Spencer Gifts when you. were a 10 or 12 year old. uh it was a very embarrassing thing for.

me but very titillating as well at the. same time so anyway legendary 80s store. uh as the legend has it they were um Joe. marver was at a trade show in Manhattan. the uh executive from Spencer GIF says. come with me gets him in a limo takes. him to SP Spencer headquarters in New. Jersey Cuts him a big check could it's. an undisclosed amount could not find out. how much but it had to have been a lot. of money because in 2013 this is 11. years ago um half of Spencer gift's.

yearly earnings which was about 250. million back then came from Spirit. Halloween I guarantee you it's way way. more than that now yeah for sure um so. just to kind of get back into the nuts. and bolts they hire about 25,000. temporary employees um just for you know. that that August to the end of October. um the stores officially closed on. November 2nd little known fact Spirit. Halloween is a 12mon a year business. online yeah of course it's just as.

retail stores aren't open during that. time and um even before they close. toward Halloween they're starting to. plan for next year um and they start. like looking for retail spaces to take. over they start negotiating with. landlords they hire a bunch of district. managers who manage about three to four. stores each and they get to go to New. Jersey on a big trip for a week-long. training seminar uh and then by the time. August rolls around again they're doing. it again uh for the the couple of months.

before Halloween yeah they're they're uh. senior director at least at the time of. this writing uh their senior director of. real estate it's guy named Frank uh. Pacer and can you imagine how hard that. job is to open up. 1,500 and negotiate those leases 1500. temporary stores just on the real estate. side like forget training all those. employees um there's a pretty fun. article if if anyone feels like reading. more about Spirit Halloween on slate I.

think um written by an employee who was. one of those managers and it wasn't like. some Horror Story like oh God it was. awful it was more just like it's a crazy. experience because everything is moving. so fast and there's so much inventory. and none of these employees like. everyone is temporary so it's just it's. just a crazy but fun environment it. seems like to work in yeah man I'll bet. keeping things stocked is like sacran. there because you got to get rid of as.

much as possible although they do say. about 30 to 40% of it carries over from. year to year yeah um yeah uh yeah I'm. sure they lost their shirts on Justin. Bieber costumes one year right and that. probably happens but you know you're. always G to make the money on Michael. Myers stuff right yeah for sure you got. a Halloween costume together for this. year you g to do anything I don't know. uh Yi usually comes up with those I just. go along with them because they're. always brilliant and I can't think of. anything so I'm sure what she's got up.

her sleeves this year probably something. really good I gotta nice um so there's. one other thing we should talk about. from Spirit Halloween that you dug up is. they are um really into charity for. children's hospitals and it's pretty. awesome what they do yeah they partnered. uh I mean essentially what they're. trying to do is bring you know not the. spirit of Christmas to Children's. Hospitals but the spirit of Halloween to. uh make hospitals less scary in an. ironic twist.

yeah for sure um it's called spirit of. children you can donate online to it you. can donate in the store um you can. donate as little as a dollar and they'll. say thank you um but they not not just. Halloween so around Halloween these uh. about 150 Children's Hospitals get care. packages with costumes and decorations. and all that stuff because think about. it when you're a little kid you're sick. in the hospital missing Halloween that. sucks on top of having to be in the. hospital in the first place. but for the rest of the year they they.

support programs they pay for equipment. like they cover these children's. hospitals and it's pretty cool it's a. really great program I had no idea about. it but if you go to Spirit Halloween. this year maybe drop a buck in their um. spirit of children collection thing or. go online and donate but um the great. thing about it is 100% of those. donations go to this program that's. right and uh we've been singing the. Praises of this fun store I hope it's. not exposed to some awful thing because.

it seems to be what it is which is a. just a pretty successful fun store. supporting a fun holiday and I hope. they're not avertising on the podcast. right now because if so it's a. coincidence everybody we weren't paid to. do this you kidding me they totally. should we should tell sales about this. okay well then Chuck brought this on us. okay uh I don't think we have anything. else about Spirit Halloween right nope. all right well then short stuff is out. stuff you should know is a production of.

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