Spirit Halloween — the annual pop-up store that uses empty storefronts to sell Halloween merchandise — have been in the news this week after a skit on “Saturday Night Live” last Saturday made fun of the brand.
But for awhile, it looked like Loudoun wasn’t going to have a Spirit store this year. October 1st rolled around with no store in sight.
Fortunately for holiday shoppers, that all changed when the team at the Dulles Town Center told us a new Spirit store opened its doors at the mall today — Friday, October 4.
Spirit has temporarily moved into the space that used to be the Sheffield Furniture & Interiors store. Sheffield closed in 2022.
To help you find the entrance to the Spirit store, it’s on the exterior of the mall right by the Cheesecake Factory restaurant.
In past years, local vacant big box stores have regularly played host to Spirit stores and Loudoun has sometimes seen two or even three pop-up Halloween-themed stores — but this year, there are fewer of those large, empty spaces available.
That’s probably a good thing for local commercial real estate, but it’s no bueno for Halloween shoppers.
The former Bloom grocery store in the Village Center at Belmont Greene retail plaza off Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn once hosted a Spirit store, but today, that space is an indoor batting cages business.
Vacant space in the Battlefield Shopping Center in Leesburg was used in the past, but today — that center is nearly full — with a new Boot Barn store, a new Sprouts Farmers Market grocery store, and a new Burlington store all under construction.
Over at Cascades Marketplace in Sterling, the former Staples space was once a Spirit Halloween store. Last year, the smaller empty Pier 1 space there was a Spirit. But this year, that entire section of the shopping center is closed and will soon be razed to build residential units.
Even One Loudoun once got in on the action. A different Halloween brand called Halloween City used the empty Great Gatherings space in 2022. But this year, that space is filled by the recently opened Container Store.
It’s good news that fewer large commercial spaces are sitting vacant — unless you’re someone still looking for that perfect ninja costume or an 10-foot inflatable ghost for your front yard.
Fortunately, Spirit has come through at the last minute with its new spot at the Dulles Town Center.
(Image at top: Spirit Halloween)