2024 has been a challenging year for many well-known retailers. Rite-Aid, Walgreens, Dollar Tree, and Office Depot have all closed locations throughout Idaho. While these closures were unfortunate for those brands, there’s one retailer that sees these vacant spots as prime real estate—at least for a few months. Yes, we’re talking about Spirit Halloween, the pop-up Halloween store famous for taking over empty locations.
Although we’re still a few weeks away from the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks and even further from the cooler weather that calls for cozy flannels, Spirit Halloween is already up and running in some parts of Idaho. This year, Spirit plans to operate nearly 1,500 pop-up stores across America, with 11 of those in Idaho.
These stores make it easy for Idahoans to find the perfect Halloween costume and stock up on spooky décor for their homes and yards. But that’s not all—they also contribute significantly to fundraising for children’s hospitals like St. Luke’s.
For nearly 20 years, Spirit has asked customers if they’d like to donate to the Spirit of Children campaign at checkout. When the spooky season ends, 100% of those funds go to the Child Life Department at participating hospitals.
These donations help make the time kids spend in the hospital a little less scary. Locally, St. Luke’s uses the generous funds from Spirit of Children to buy things like blankets, stuffed animals, kinetic sand, Play-Doh, coloring books, and other items that give kids a little piece of home while they recover.
In 2022, the Boise Spirit Halloween stores surprised St. Luke’s with a check for $92,000, which helped them update their procedure room. The stores also donated costumes so that kids who had to spend Halloween in the hospital wouldn’t feel left out.
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If you want to make a difference, consider donating when you buy your costume this year. So, where are the stores? Here’s where you’ll find them. As of August 7, the stores in Ammon, Coeur d’Alene, Twin Falls, and the former Johnny’s Fit Club location in Boise are already open. The rest are listed as “coming soon” or “coming in August.”
