Spirit Christmas expanding to 30 pop-up shops, making Long Island return

The spirit of Christmas will be in more places this year.

The number of Spirit Christmas pop-up stores will increase to 30 locations in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions this fall, including a return to a site on Long Island, according to Spencer Gifts LLC, the parent company of the chain. The expansion follows a test of the concept that started with eight spots in the Northeast in 2024.

A sister retailer to the Spirit Halloween chain of pop-up shops selling costumes and decorations, Spirit Christmas short-term stores sell holiday decor, apparel, inflatables and other items. Also, Santa will return for photos this year.

But the Christmas pop-ups will have additional offerings this year with more stores, Spencer Gifts said.

“This growth allows us to bring our immersive in-store experiences to more communities as we continue testing the concept. Guests can explore our [new] Peppermint Village, featuring interactive displays, exclusive merchandise, and a one-of-a-kind Santa photo experience in partnership with Cherry Hill Programs,” Marisa Simonson, spokeswoman for Spencer Gifts, which is based in Egg Harbor, New Jersey, wrote in an email.

Cherry Hill Programs is a Marlton, New Jersey-based company that partners with retailers, shopping mall owners and other entities to provide holiday-related activities, including Santa and Easter bunny visits with photography.

The 30 Spirit Christmas pop-ups opening this year will be in 13 states, including Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Ohio.

A few will open in late October, but most will open in November after transitioning from Spirit Halloween stores, as will be the case on Long Island, in Bohemia.

For the second time, Spirit Christmas’ Long Island pop-up shop will open in Sayville Plaza after a Spirit Halloween store exits. But this time, the pop-ups will be in a 31,945-square-foot former JoAnn Fabrics space, at 5159 Sunrise Hwy. The space they occupied last year has been leased to a grocery store, Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace, which will open in November.

As for the national plan for Spirit Halloween, which was founded in 1983, that chain will open more than 1,500 pop-up stores this year in the United States and Canada. On Long Island, there will be 13 Spirit Halloween pop-ups, including locations in Bethpage, Coram, North Babylon and Riverhead.

The Halloween stores began opening in August and will close by Nov. 2, Simonson said.

She declined to disclose the plans for Spirit Christmas and Spirit Halloween beyond 2025.

However, she did say the target locations are high-visibility sites, including lifestyle and strip shopping centers, freestanding stores, major downtown areas and shopping malls anchored by national retailers.

“Ideal Spirit Halloween locations range from 5,000 to 50,000 square feet of sales floor space and offer strong visibility and accessibility,” she said.

Changing perceptions

Spirit Halloween stores draw significant foot traffic to shopping centers and malls during a period that is typically quiet, as consumers prepare for the holiday shopping season, which is one reason why landlords are more welcoming to short-term stores than they used to be, said David Caputo, a data scientist at Moody’s Analytics, a financial intelligence provider in Manhattan.

“This success has led to the extension into Spirit Christmas, which benefits from many of the same factors as Spirit Halloween. Because of the success seen with last year's limited rollout, they are expanding the number of stores this year,” he said.

In the past, landlords were reluctant to enter into short-term leases with tenants because of their association with instability and their potential to block long-term tenants, he said.

But the Spirit chains have addressed this, Caputo said.

“Spirit now includes kick-out clauses in its contracts, providing landlords with extra protection. These clauses allow landlords to terminate the agreement if they secure a long-term tenant,” he said.

The increased brand recognition of some pop-up stores also has made them more appealing to landlords, he said.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.