Spirit Halloween will expand its Spirit Christmas concept to 44 locations this season, marking the third year the seasonal retailer has operated stores under the holiday banner.

The move extends a strategy that started as a small experiment and now spans dozens of converted Spirit Halloween sites. The company, known for its pop-up Halloween stores, has used the Christmas format to extend the productive life of its temporary real estate beyond October 31.

What does the expansion mean for the brand?

The 44-store footprint signals that Spirit's parent company sees enough demand in the holiday segment to keep scaling. By converting locations rather than closing them after Halloween, the retailer can amortize leases and staffing across two peak selling seasons instead of one.

For a pop-up operator, the December calendar offers a second window of high-traffic seasonal retail. The Christmas concept follows the same playbook that made Spirit Halloween a fixture of strip malls and vacant big-box spaces each fall.

The expansion to 44 locations this season represents the concept's largest footprint since launch. How far the dual-season model can stretch — and whether further holiday formats follow — will be the test of the strategy in coming years.