Illinois To Get First 3 Spirit Christmas Pop-Up Locations This Year

When that calendar flips to November 1st, so does the mood.

For a lot of us, we're all about spooky season and Halloween until midnight on October 31st, when the calendar officially changes to November.

We always joke about recently closed stores becoming a Spirit Halloween but the popular seasonal store isn't sticking to one holiday. Last October, they announced that they're branching off into Spirit Christmas too.

Initially, they only had 10 stores for the holly jolly season but this year, that extends to 30 and some of them are in Illinois for the first time ever.

According to NBC Chicago, 3 of the Spirit Christmas stores will be in Illinois this year. Two open in November:

• Bloomingdale (former HHGregg) 340 W. Army Trail Rd.
• Naperville (former Bed Bath & Beyond) 336 Illinois Route 59

And one Illinois Spirit Christmas location will open in October:

• Joliet (former Party City) 2661 Plainfield Road

Sidebar: this year, I noticed a lot of Spirit Halloweens (including Davenport's) are opening in former Party City locations or former JoAnn's. Party City just closed up U.S. operations this February, while JoAnn's closed at the end of May.

Retail Dive says that Spirit Christmas will have free visits with Santa (at certain locations) and reservations available for a paid family photo session.

This year is the first year for Spirit Christmas' Peppermint Village, an "immersive in-store experience" that will have interactive displays along with decor and gifts.

Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Christmas, said about bringing it back:

At Spirit, we believe the magic of the season does not end with Halloween — it transforms. Back by popular demand and with even more locations, Spirit Christmas is an extension of our sensory-rich, interactive holiday experiences.

Retail Dive says holiday retail sales are expected to grow by 4% this year and Halloween spending is expected to hit a record with $13.1 billion in sales.