Some Spirit Halloween stores in Florida will be turning less scary and more jolly this year. Florida is finally getting some Spirit Christmas locations.
Spencer Gifts, which owns the ubiquitous orange-and-black Spirit Halloween stores that pop up everywhere at the end of every summer, experimented with similar Christmas-themed stores in 2024, opening eight Spirit Christmas stores in the Northeast. Last year, it expanded to 30 stores. This year, they're launching 38 stores in 15 states, with four in Florida for the first time.
The Spirit Christmas stores will be in Clearwater, Coral Springs, Jacksonville, and Winter Garden, according to the Spirit Christmas locator map.
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Where are Spirit Christmas stores in Florida?
The four locations are:
- Clearwater:2522 McMullen Booth Road (former Stein Mart), opening in November
- Coral Springs:725 N. University Drive (former Big Lots), opening in November
- Jacksonville:6000 Lake Gray Boulevard Suite XD (former Bealls, opening in November
- Winter Garden: 3049 Daniels Road Suite 220C, (former Forever 21), opening in October
What is Spirit Christmas?
Patterned after the Spirit
Halloween model, Spirit Christmas takes over empty retail buildings and fills them for a few months with decorations, stocking stuffers, holiday apparel, fun gifts, unique décor, inflatables, and other yuletide needs. Select locations also offer visits from Santa and photo opportunities.
Some of the pop-up Yuletide retailers are repurposed Spirit Halloween stores that close after Halloween and reopen a week later fully decked out for Christmas. Others are new locations.
Where are the Spirit Christmas stores located?
Spirit Christmas will be opening 38 locations in:
- Connecticut: Milford
- Florida:
- Clearwater
- Coral Springs
- Jacksonville
- Winter Garden
- Illinois:
- Aurora
- Bloomingdale
- Joliet
- Springfield
- Indiana:
- Clarksville
- Fort Wayne
- Hobart
- Massachusetts:
- Dartmouth
- Nartick
- North Attleborough
- Maryland: Waldorf
- Michigan:
- Flint
- Grand Rapids
- Maconti
- Taylor
- North Carolina: Mebane
- New Jersey:
- Hamilton
- Marlton
- Riverdale
- Rockaway
- New York:
- Albany
- Buffalo
- Newburgh
- Scarsdale
- Ohio:
- Daytona
- Mentor
- North Olmsted
- Youngstown
- Pennsylvania:
- Bethal Park
- Erie
- Mechanicsburg
- Springfield
- South Carolina: Charleston
- Tennessee:
- Knoxville
- Nashville
- Virginia
- Colonial Heights
- Manassas
What is Spirit Halloween?
Spirit Halloween, the self-described "largest Halloween retailer in the country," has opened pop-up stores since its first in 1983, in the back of a women's clothing store at Castro Valley Mall in Castro Valley, California, according to a 2000 Los Angeles Times article.
Famous for its over-the-top yard decorations, animatronics and inflatables, and its wide variety of costumes, props, wigs, and makeup, Spirit Halloween has spawned thousands of online memes for both satirical Spirit-themed generic costumes for celebrities or pop culture trends, and for its habit of taking over abandoned buildings. This year, Spirit operated a record 1,575 stores across the United States and Canada, with more than 100 locations in Florida.
Spirit Christmas is an experimental spinoff that started in 2024.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida's service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Spirit Christmas stores finally coming to Florida, here's where
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