One Important Thing You Need to Know About Shopping at Pop-Up Halloween Stores in Boise

In 2022, Americans spent nearly $3.6 billion on Halloween costumes. 

In early September, the National Retail Federation surveyed over 8,000 Americans about their Halloween plans. At that point, 69% of people planning to celebrate the spooky holiday said that they were planning to buy new costumes in 2023. Based on those estimates, that could set a new record of $4.1 billion spent on costumes alone!

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While we’re sure many people will search for their costumes through online retailers like Walmart, some people rather try on their costumes to make sure they get a perfect fit, the first time around. That’s why those pop-up Halloween shops that appear in vacant storefronts across the Treasure Valley are so popular! 

This year, Spirit Halloween has eight different locations in the Boise area. Their biggest competitor, Halloween City by Party City, appears to be skipping Idaho, Utah and Wyoming for a second year.

While it’s easy to make jokes about vacant buildings immediately becoming Spirit Halloween stores, the truth is that these seasonal Halloween pop-ups do an immense amount of good in our community. 

Since 2006, Spirit Halloween stores have been asking customers to donate to their “Spirit of Children” fundraising campaign at checkout. At the end of the season, 100% of the funds they collect are given to the Child Life Department at participating hospitals to make the time kids spend in the hospital less scary.

When it comes to stores in the Boise region, that means 100% is going directly to the only children's hospital in the state, St. Luke’s Children's Hospital in Downtown Boise. With the funds provided by Spirit Halloween, the hospital can purchase things like blankets, stuffed animals, kinetic sand, Play-dough, coloring books and other items that help provide kids with a little comfort of home during their stay at the hospital. 

Last year, the Boise area locations were able to present St. Luke’s with an enormous check for $92,002. When St. Luke’s shared the check presentation on Facebook, they said that the funds from the 2022 donations went toward updating their procedure room. They also revealed that in addition to the Spirit of Children funds, the Halloween pop-up also dropped off costumes during the Halloween season so that kids who had to spend the spooky holiday wouldn’t feel left out.