Each fall, across the United States and Canada, around 1500 empty storefronts are taken up by the signature yellow, orange and black signage of Spirit Halloween. The seasonal retailer sells Halloween masks, Halloween costumes, Halloween costumes for dogs, Halloween decorations, creepy robots and several different kinds of fake blood. And they do it to the tune of around a billion dollars a year in sales, according to some estimates. While Spirit stores make landfall every August, by early November, every one of their physical locations is closed.
Listen to the story of Spirit Halloween