The Grim Reaper of retail: Spirit Halloween

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2022

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Every fall, with the same regularity as birds flying south, Spirit Halloween materializes in locations across the country. The superstore sells all manner of trappings for spooky season, including costumes, props and décor. It boasts about 1,400 pop-ups nationwide, and often takes over temporary leases in malls where a big-box retailer struggled to stay open. This penchant for swooping in on failing businesses has led many consumers to see the company as a kind of Grim Reaper of retail – and turned the store into an internet meme.

This week, host Brittany Luse sits down with Planet Money's Kenny Malone to dive into the origin story of Spirit Halloween, and what the store's success says about the economy and the future of retail.

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin or email us at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR.
0:05.0	I'm your host, Brittany Loose.
0:07.0	Halloween is less than a week away.
0:15.7	And for the occasion, I'm bringing on a spooky enthusiast, Clanet Money's Very Own, Kenny
0:21.4	Malone.
0:22.4	Kenny, welcome to It's Been a Minute.
0:24.0	Thank you.
0:25.0	I'm so excited.
0:26.0	This is very exciting.
0:27.0	Halloween's my thing.
0:28.0	I wear Halloween shirt for this.
0:29.6	And are you afraid of the dark shirt for all of you 90s kids out there?
0:33.6	Halloween, of course, means the arrival of a business that pops up across the country
0:38.3	every spooky season.
0:40.4	This not-so-little company has been around for decades.
0:43.9	And it's the inspiration for a heck of a lot of memes.
0:46.6	Okay, so here's a meme from After Queen Elizabeth died.
0:50.6	I'm talking about spirit Halloween.
0:53.1	Oh, no.
0:54.1	No.
0:55.1	Tell me what you see.
0:57.1	Describe.
	...

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