It’s not October yet, but Halloween season has arrived at Spirit Halloween in the Aviation Mall. For the store manager Mary Stockwell, she is thrilled about how busy this season has shaped up thus far.
“We’ve been selling our home decor like crazy, mainly because everyone is trying to decorate right now,” Stockwell said.
New animatronics, like Hell Spawn, have been particularly popular for customers looking to decorate their front lawn and Halloween displays, according to Stockwell.
“He’s like the coolest guy this year,” Stockwell said of Hell Spawn.
Animatronics are a popular item for the Halloween enthusiast who is building an interactive walk-through set-up at their house. Items like horror collectibles based on film characters such as IT (from Steven King’s “It”), Freddy Krueger (from “Nightmare on Elm Street”) and Jason Voorhies (from “Friday the 13th”) have also been in high demand.
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“All of that stuff is selling like crazy,” Stockwell said. “We also have a lot of exclusive stuff here at Spirit Halloween, such as Funko pops (vinyl figurines) that have sold well.”
Another popular Spirit Halloween exclusive is the annual themed in-store experience. This year’s experience—to celebrate the store’s 40th anniversary—is the Spirit Hallows Cemetery.
“The Spirit Hallows Cemetery is the ultimate celebration of many of our past themes and animatronics, and we’re so excited for you to explore and discover all our cleverly hidden easter eggs for yourself! Home to various undead animatronics, both old and new, upon entering the Spirit Hallows Cemetery, you’ll be sure to come face to face with some of its most terrifying inhabitants,” the store’s website says of this year’s experience.
“It took me 120 man hours to build the entire ISE,” Stockwell told The Post Star.
Customers can actually purchase the Spirit Halloween in-store experience at the end of the season, according to Stockwell.
“I get at least five questions a day about it,” she said, after showing off a book at the checkout desk full of this year’s applicants. However, since there is only one Spirit Hallows Cemetery in the store it is strictly “first come, first serve.”
“I had a guy come in the second day we were open and apply. It all depends on who shows up and who doesn’t. Whoever can get it out of my hair the quickest can have it,” Stockwell said.
As far as costumes go, throwbacks like Frankenstein have been a big hit this year, but the full tilt of costume buying doesn’t occur until October. “The closer we get to October the more people will buy costumes,” Stockwell said.
Opening in early August, Spirit Halloween took around five days to build with a week and a half to do so among just five employees, shrinking the store space from 30,000 sq. ft. to 10,000 sq. ft., according to Stockwell.
After Halloween, the store looks to sell off as much merchandise as possible. Nov. 1 will be a 25% discount day, and November 2 will have a discount determined on how well sales were that year, Stockwell said.
