# Not Happy With Spirit Stores!



## Guest (Sep 8, 2009)

I don't think there will be one here this year.


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## inerd (Sep 4, 2009)

Wow Guess i will have to make a 2 hour roadtrip to go shopping  FTL


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## icetross911 (Aug 8, 2008)

What a surprise, someone unhappy with something related to the Spirit of Halloween stores.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

inerd said:


> Ok Well it is September 8th and I have YET to see a Spirit Store here in DFW
> 
> Does anyone know where there is one? I don't Want to drive all the way to Tyler to get stuff!
> 
> Thanks!



I plugged a Dallas zip code into their store locator and came up with 3 places within 100 miles--yikes, still a trip even if Sherman, Tx is closer. Wonder why no one in the DFW area is interested in running a location. What kind of competition is there down there for halloween?

http://www.spirithalloween.com/storelocation.aspx?zipPostalCode=75201


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## dippedstix (Jul 2, 2009)

inerd said:


> Ok Well it is September 8th and I have YET to see a Spirit Store here in DFW
> 
> Does anyone know where there is one? I don't Want to drive all the way to Tyler to get stuff!
> 
> Thanks!


Wow, I am originally from Dallas (Irving). There are 4 Spirit stores here close to me where I live now  What's up with DFW??!! Who wants to drive to Sherman TX? LOL


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## Tippy (Oct 7, 2008)

*Spirit Stores*

I have not found one in the San Antonio area yet either. What is going on??? It seems that Halloween is being neglected this year.


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## Dalloween (Jun 25, 2006)

DFW will have stores again... I just spoke to a friend whose father installs the phone lines and security systems every year for the DFW locations.... although it sounds like it will still be a couple of weeks before any of our locations open. When I find out open dates, I'll post them here.


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## HomeyDaClown (Aug 27, 2007)

icetross911 said:


> What a surprise, someone unhappy with something related to the Spirit of Halloween stores.


Yep big surprise. The store here has had a sign on it's door for a month saying it will be open in September.

Well it's September 8th and they're still not open. I've quit looking for them to open the door even for a look.

Our local Party On! shops now have two huge Halloween Mania Megastores and the prices are much better than Spirit. The Spirit store here last year was twice the price on everything from Foggers/Fog Juice to Creepy cloth. I bought all my supplies at Party On! since they were open last month to take my money right on schedule.


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## texashalloween08 (Oct 4, 2008)

*I am with you!! I am in Bedford, TX, and the closest one listed to me is Waco!!! I am waiting....hopefully Dalloween will have some locations in DFW soon!! *


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## Junit (Sep 1, 2008)

That's rough. I lucked out this year, with a store being only 40 or so minutes away


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## MrNightmare (Mar 2, 2009)

inerd said:


> Ok Well it is September 8th and I have YET to see a Spirit Store here in DFW
> 
> Does anyone know where there is one? I don't Want to drive all the way to Tyler to get stuff!
> 
> Thanks!


I'm with you inerd! Every year, all the DFW stores open around the end of September!!??!! I just dont understand how they can afford to do that! It seems they are trowing away so much profit. Last year, the Mesquite store opend the last week if September!!! That was CRAZY And the store set up was horrible! Stuff was scatteted everywhere and it looked like a junk yard!

This Year, I wonder how many stores will even be open in DFW! I belive the blame falls on those that operate the store, rather then corp. offices. 

This past weekend I went the the Tyler store... Let me tell you, those operators got it right! Not only is it the best set up Spirit store I have seen, but they make it a point to open BEFORE labor day Every year I go there on the 1st weekend of Sep. to check out their stuff! The operator is a great guy who keeps me posted of Spirit happenings... with that kind of service, I would rather buy from him... Just wish they would open one in the DFW market.


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## CraigInPA (Sep 11, 2007)

I stopped by the Spirit store on September 8th in Hazleton, expecting them to be open because the sign in the window they put up in August said "Opening in September". They were closed. Peering through the paper, it didn't look like there was anything going on inside either.


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## murtisha (Aug 9, 2005)

We have one by the Northridge Mall in Northridge every year. It says it will be open soon but I don't even see any signs out on the building yet. :-(


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## BevAnn (Aug 7, 2007)

I was at a soccer tourney in Frisco/Plano this weekend, and was so hoping to hit some Halloween stores - but alas, the only one I found was Halloween Express, which I have here in my own town! AND I did go ahead and stop- but they weren't opening until this week! SO, no shopping for me this past weekend!


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

I've always wondered on stores that set up like this (Crown Books is one of them too that takes over closed retail spaces for a few months), whether its just an issue of leasing contracts for the space, getting enough help for the set up, having enough money or credit to get the inventory delivered or something more to do with working with corporate to get the stores opened in time. I know Spirit's hope is to be open the weekend of Labor Day.


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## Erebus (Sep 4, 2009)

I hate it too, but they usually don't open up until late Sept or even early Oct. I sucks to hear everyone else going shopping and stuff and we have to wait. I heard the one in Mesquite is coming back but not til late Sept or so. I think I heard something about Rockwall getting one maybe? Can't remember where but another one should pop up arount town.


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## davy2 (Sep 10, 2008)

yes, the ones in my area, East Bay San Francisco, or at least the one I go to in Concord/Pleasant Hill, still has "now hiring" banner in the window...shouldn't they be open by now???


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## inerd (Sep 4, 2009)

We have Halloween Express ( WAY TO EXPENSIVE in my opinion ) And We have Cowtown Halloween and Party City and Walmart and Target Thats all we have right now! Thankfully Party City has had what I needed! But I would love to see more halloween Stores!


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

This post goes to late opening Spirit stores as well as those like Target, Walmart, etc. 

What I don't get is that by opening so late, when other stores are already shelving merchandise weeks before, don't they think that a lot of people will have already spent most of their dollars at other locations and have less to spend at their store? One month or one and a half-months isn't much time to carry seasonal IMO. Not that many weekends. Especially not with two parents working full-time jobs these days and kids having after school activities and homework in September/October. It just doesn't give families much time to go shopping together for their house/yard/kids/parties. 

If the store hasn't reduced the volume of merchandise they are shelving to compensate for the short sell period, I would think they won't be able to sell out in such a short frame and will have to put more merchandise on clearance. Great for us I guess, but doesn't seem a healthy approach for a store.


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## inerd (Sep 4, 2009)

It Doesn't But Garden Ridge does Exactly What you Said They had Halloween Out early August and They Just got Christmas up! They are going to be able to sell out of all of it because it has been up there so long....


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## Spats (Sep 21, 2006)

Count me as one of those who no longer cares about Spirit, or Halloween Express, etc.

The prices are outrageous, the selection is very hit-or-miss, and they rarely have anything I can't get from our local Party Galaxy a month earlier. Take any item you see at a party supply house, like a Woochie prosthetic or a rubber severed arm. Note the price. Then check Spirit. The price will be slightly higher most of the time, but not always.
Then do it with pre-packaged costumes. The price jump is ridiculous.
Same with electronic props like foggers, blacklights, misters, fauz silk flames, door greeters, etc.


The local franchise owners don't seem to care about updating the website for locations, and they don't seem to care about advertizing locally. Billboards go up on a few major highways and that's about it.

My biggest issue, though, is need. I'm not the customer who buys large animated props, or $100 pre-packaged costumes. I may need a few smaller items, but generally I have other places to go for those things. I find myself hunting for lighting, small props like foam skulls and rubber spiders, extra makeup and the occasional costume piece, like gloves and hats, but that's it.
I make my own stuff.

For those of you who depend on places like Spirit for your goods, pick up the phone and call those out of the way locales and make your concerns known. If you find a location that is 'hiring', but not open as of yet, go in anyway and talk to the owner.
I doubt this will affect price (which is my main issue with these places), but it may illustrate to them how important it is to have address, phone number, opening date and times of operation on the website - in late August.


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## BLAKKHEART (Aug 23, 2004)

Patience grasshopper, they will open. They would be idiots if they did not open. My brother said there was a place open off I-20 in Grand Praire. I have not been there yet. it may be a Halloween outlet. Not sure just yet.


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## Deathly (Jan 26, 2009)

Spats said:


> Count me as one of those who no longer cares about Spirit, or Halloween Express, etc.
> 
> The prices are outrageous, the selection is very hit-or-miss, and they rarely have anything I can't get from our local Party Galaxy a month earlier. Take any item you see at a party supply house, like a Woochie prosthetic or a rubber severed arm. Note the price. Then check Spirit. The price will be slightly higher most of the time, but not always.
> Then do it with pre-packaged costumes. The price jump is ridiculous.
> ...



I agree totally Spats,

It seems they want to catch the last minute desperate halloweeners and then sock them with high prices. By the time they open for business I've already done my business elsewhere and smiling all the way to the bank.


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## RattandRoll (Sep 6, 2007)

BLAKKHEART said:


> Patience grasshopper, they will open. They would be idiots if they did not open. My brother said there was a place open off I-20 in Grand Praire. I have not been there yet. it may be a Halloween outlet. Not sure just yet.


Cow Halloween is opening around Arlington Texas just saw it today when I was headed to the airport


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

RattandRoll said:


> Cow Halloween is opening around Arlington Texas just saw it today when I was headed to the airport



I thought you were joking when you referred to "Cow Halloween". Did a web search and was shocked to see that it was a real place. Seems to be on the same format as Spirit Halloween--leasing empty stores for a short time to sell halloween items. BTW went to their store locator and so far only blank placeholders show up for any stores (not all that unlike Spirit's listings I guess). Similar pricing and merchandise I'd say other than the Spirit Exclusives.

Maybe Cow Halloween snapped up all the open lease areas in the DFW area before Spirit could get in there.


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## christmascandy1 (Aug 19, 2009)

well Im in Venus..(close to mansfield) and i had yet to c one ine either burleson or cedar hill


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## cbonz2002 (Jun 23, 2009)

Guys don't expect too much from the Spirit store. I went to two last week and there just isn't anything special about them! There props are overpriced and don't really do anything. I was really let down. 
Maybe because where into Halloween 365 days a year are standards are higher, what do you think?


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## The Real Joker (Sep 8, 2008)

Yeah, not a big fan of Spirit either - too expensive
They have some cool stuff to browse over, but other than that, I'll pass


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Yea, I like to browse our $pirit Halloween $uper$tore to get a Halloween "fix". That's about it.
Even the after-Halloween sale is no sale to me!


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## hannibal (Oct 19, 2008)

We just went to one in Wilkes Barre Pa because I got an email saying they were open. Got there no lights on and no one inside. I called another one in Dickson City PA and they've been open since Wednesday. We're going to head up there tomorrow afternoon.


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## creepy crawler (Jul 31, 2008)

hannibal said:


> We just went to one in Wilkes Barre Pa because I got an email saying they were open. Got there no lights on and no one inside. I called another one in Dickson City PA and they've been open since Wednesday. We're going to head up there tomorrow afternoon.


I feel your Pain we drove about an hour to get to the spirit store at the Lehigh Valley Mall checked the website said opens the 10th and a guy standing out side sorry we had some problems we will open Monday!!! WELL WTF????


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## hannibal (Oct 19, 2008)

creepy crawler said:


> I feel your Pain we drove about an hour to get to the spirit store at the Lehigh Valley Mall checked the website said opens the 10th and a guy standing out side sorry we had some problems we will open Monday!!! WELL WTF????




That sucks. We're right in the middle so it's just 20 minutes either way. I just prefer wilkes barre but if they don't want my money I'll happily go to dickson city. I really just want that creepy crawly guy. We bought the girl last year and she needs a boyfriend...lol. She was a huge hit and the kids were afraid of her. I've been to Lehigh Valley Mall a few times (Sephora addict..lol) is the Spirit store there bigger or is it just like the others? It's a 2 hour ride for us so I don't want to do the drive if it's like the other ones. It's nice to meet someone from my neck of the woods.


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## texashalloween08 (Oct 4, 2008)

*Good news, it looks like there is a Cow Halloween store opening on Central Drive off 183 in Bedford, TX! I drove by and saw the banner today. It is in an old Sack N Save. I intially thought it was a Spirit store, they have similar banners, but when we drove by for a closer look, we saw it was a Cow Halloween store. I was hoping for a Spirit store, I have never seen a Cow Halloween store, so I do not know what to expect. Has anyone been into a Cow Halloween? *


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## Girl (Aug 28, 2009)

None are open by me... I can't even find them when I drive up and down the street looking for them (since, of course, the Spirit website doesn't have an exact address). V LAME! I ended up going to Halloween USA and some other stores this weekend.


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

*Well I have two spirit stores near me and I just went into one of them. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!!! First of all the store looked bare. There was no atmosphere or basic theme like in the past years. Then went to the back where the props should be. There was only one prop that was up...Michael Meyers and it was not working. They had lots of the witches in boxes and the grave lifter guy and everything looked like it had been picked over. I am assuming they havent gotten most of their items in yet. The workers there would have rathered spoke to each other than any customer, but were very eager to show themselves when the store was closing in 5 minutes. Then they had plenty to say! THe stuff looked cheap and overall not worth the money for anything. I cant believe that this is the same store that was here a few years back. They had props hanging everywhere, working to show you what they did and the overall atmosphere made you want to buy everything. This one was on the corner of Sunrise and Flamingo for anyone in the South Florida area. Save your money and your time and try another one or maybe a mom and pop Halloween store, you might have better luck.*


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## hannibal (Oct 19, 2008)

Just got back from Spirit. I really wanted the creepy crawly guy (with my 20% off) since I got the girl last year. He's not as scary as she is but he does have a way better sensor. He goes off with the slightest movement. The store itself wasn't wonderful. Props were set up, some working though most were not. I asked the cashier if that was all they were getting. He said another truck is coming tomorrow. They are in an old Circuit City store so everything is spread out. I also got 2 of those fake lantern lights(they let me use another 20% off I had from signing up hubby). I will go back probably once a week for ideas and small stuff. Hopefully they'll build up more inventory. There were tons of costumes also. My daughter couldn't believe how many there were. And I did see quite a few items from last year. Overall not horrilbe but not fantastic either.


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## creepy crawler (Jul 31, 2008)

hannibal said:


> Just got back from Spirit. I really wanted the creepy crawly guy (with my 20% off)


Where did you get the 20% off coupons? some one told me that this was a no go for this year.


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## hannibal (Oct 19, 2008)

creepy crawler said:


> Where did you get the 20% off coupons? some one told me that this was a no go for this year.




I signed up for the star wars contest or whatever it was on spirits website. Then I signed up my daughter and my husband. Today when I opened my email there was another 20% off directly from spirit(I think that one is for signing up for emails at the store last year). If you want I can email you the coupon. I read that post where the expiration date was 08 instead of 09 but mine were for 09.


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## Tumblindice (Aug 19, 2008)

creepy crawler said:


> Where did you get the 20% off coupons? some one told me that this was a no go for this year.


Look in the coupon section, it is there.


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## inerd (Sep 4, 2009)

texashalloween08 said:


> *Good news, it looks like there is a Cow Halloween store opening on Central Drive off 183 in Bedford, TX! I drove by and saw the banner today. It is in an old Sack N Save. I intially thought it was a Spirit store, they have similar banners, but when we drove by for a closer look, we saw it was a Cow Halloween store. I was hoping for a Spirit store, I have never seen a Cow Halloween store, so I do not know what to expect. Has anyone been into a Cow Halloween? *



There one is across the street from my apartment if I get time tmmrw I will check it out and let you know my thoughts!


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## Don of the Dead (Jan 20, 2005)

You think you're mad now, Spirit has a thing this year where Spencers won't carry the props, only Spirit, Spencers will still have costumes and accessories, but no props so, no sales


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## Iseedeadpeople (Jun 23, 2009)

*Not Waiting for Spirit*



Don of the Dead said:


> You think you're mad now, Spirit has a thing this year where Spencers won't carry the props, only Spirit, Spencers will still have costumes and accessories, but no props so, no sales


The Spirit store here is still not open!!! My neighbor the local fire captain says they are fighting with the fire department about fire extinguishers. Seems they don't want a store that's safe for customers. Too late for me anyway I've got all my Halloween stuff ready to go and spent all my money.

Like they are going to lose any business to Spencer's, what a joke... 

Maybe they'll be open by Christmas? Next Year?


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## Wolfbeard (Sep 22, 2008)

I understand that Spirit Halloween is a valuable sponsor of this site, and I respect that.

I just have to say to be very careful when using your 20% off coupons on online orders! I placed an order for the hovering ghost, which is on sale for $49.99 and for the animated Michael Myers, which is full price. The coupon code indicates that the coupon cannot be used on sale items, yet the Spirit website applied the 20% off to the least expensive item...yup, the sale item, which the coupon itself says it can't do. I had to cancel the order and will be closing my account with Spirit due to this misrepresentation and others I have experienced with this company this year and an issue last year. 

I love their props and have usually had great service, but the snowball effect of the problems this year is leading me to do business elsewhere. I was told to place seperate orders for the items, in order to use the coupon on the higher priced item. That makes sense, until you see what the additional shipping charges turn out to be. The coupon is misleading as well, since the website applies it incorrectly to sale items and it does not indicate that the 20% off is on the lowest priced item only.

*BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!*



Eric


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## SpookyMuFu (Sep 14, 2009)

I guess I'm lucky here in South Houston area, we have two Spirit stores and a Halloween Express store close by and another Spirit store down town I havent been to. And of course the usual other stores that carry stuff, but it seems the pickings are slim so far.


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## hannibal (Oct 19, 2008)

I just called the other Spirit store near me...I asked the guy if they were opening today cause that's what they told me on Monday and the guy answers...."yeah..hopefully by 3". There must be slackers running the stores by me. One not completely setup and another that will hopefully open by 3.


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## Brimstonewitch (Aug 23, 2009)

*UGH*!!! so jealous you have a Garden Ridge!! I miss that place something awful!


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## Dalloween (Jun 25, 2006)

Garden Ridge isn't the same place it use to be though... most of the store is now nursing scrubs and poorly constructed furniture. The craft supplies and hobby stuff area all gone.



newgirlinaz said:


> *UGH*!!! so jealous you have a Garden Ridge!! I miss that place something awful!


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## Dalloween (Jun 25, 2006)

Spirit has started adding listings for Dallas to their site, but the addresses do not match the locations, like there's a "Dallas - Greenville" location listed (Greenville is a major street in Dallas), but the address for it is listed in North Richland Hills, a suburb of Dallas/Ft Worth. So, it looks like we do have stores opening... just not clear where they are at. lol


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## pazza4u (Apr 14, 2009)

*Spirit Store*

I live in Illinois, Chicago land area, some Spirit Store are now open, and others are still closed. The ones that I've been to don't have too much, and on top of all that they have short hours some open at 11am or noon and most of them close at 7pm and only a couple close at 8pm and they have most of there items but no Michael Myers, they told me to order on-line! Display set-up this year is very poor.


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## Halloweenfan (Sep 18, 2008)

I know that you are disappointed with Spirit, but let me tell you something about the animatronics they have that I seen when going to a store. If you like Michael Myers which I could careless for, they have an animatronic that you might like. They have this cool animatronic that is a skeleton guy, and than he opens his chest, and has spirits in there, and than there is that guy crawling on the floor that's really cool looking.

To me, if you were into buying this big stuff, I would buy 2 of them (not Michael Myers). To me, it's not worth the money to spend money on these big things. I rather just buy the smaller animatronics. I don't need a 6 foot animatronic, but some people are going to want to buy this, and to me they look really good. I would love if amusement parks bought a Jason, or the guy that has spirits in his chest. I think $30 is my limit to buying big enough animatronics. 

To me though, if you are into buying big animatronics, this is a great place, and I don't know how many other physical locations can you find these animatronics. For costumes, just go to Wal-Mart, Kmart, or some cheaper store, but for big animatronics, I say go here.

If this store didn't come back next year, I would imagine all the people that would truly miss this store.


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## SpookyMuFu (Sep 14, 2009)

I got a chance to see the Michael Myers in person last night, the local Spirit store finally got it in and up.......I was disappointed to say the least. The thing looks like a little kid in a full size costume. The head is too big, the body is too short and the arms look...well, just awful. I would NEVER pay $250 for that thing. I'm glad I bought Jason instead, it out classes Michael by miles. And I got Jason at a far better price then Spirit is selling it.

oh and Halloweenfan, that skeleton with the spirits in his chest is supposed to be the Grim Reaper, the faces in his chest are supposed to be the spirits he's reeped.

I also saw the Executioner.....sad sad sad....what a POS.........


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## kprimm (Apr 3, 2009)

Sorry to hear of your trouble guys, i have a spirit and a halloween USAabout a mile from my house and in the same shopping area even.


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## Deathtemple (Sep 8, 2008)

There are spirit stores all over CA


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## doctoru2 (Oct 13, 2008)

I love Spirit. Yes, some of their props break after a year or two and some last for years (just like any props, regardless of the holiday). 

And as they are seasonal stores, one can never be sure when or where they will open. I do think the Spirit website should update that aspect as frequently as possible. There have been years where I've literally stumbled across a Spirit store or others told me. Also, there were years where the Spirit store stood proud, then suddenly the year after, nothing (despite the store still being available). I asked why and was told that the store the year prior just didn't do enough business. So if the Spirit near you isn't open this year, that could be a reason. Also, the tougher economy has forced Spirit to contract. The Spirit near me is in the same spot, but has fewer employees and even turned off some lights to save $$!

Fortunately, in CA (where I currently reside), Spirit is around and I've obtained some great merchandise the past few years. But if there is no store near you, there is the online world and often many coupons.

Which brings me to coupons and some of the odd complaints I read here.

Why would anyone close an account over a coupon? First, if you want two items, but the coupon is good for only the lower priced item, then just place two orders. I've done that a few times (to get 20 or 25% off). Also play with the free shipping coupon (which may be better than the 20% - depends on what you order). Coupons are a bonus and to complain because you had to place two orders is silly, especially if you can save $40 (on a $200 item!).

So while Spirit isn't perfect, they do have fun animatronics and other props that are affordable for a home haunt. Other places have few items for $50-250 that decorate a home. Most are $400 and way up (thousands). Spirit allows me to have fun without busting a budget (or having air compressors everywhere). Count me as a Spirit fan, despite their limitation (and some cheap props).


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## halloween71 (Apr 22, 2007)

This year I got irrated with spirit at first because I had ordered micheal and animated sam.They wouldn't ship sam till mm was ready to ship.I ordered early a few days after they were put up on preorder.But everyone else was getting theirs as they came in.So I called and cancelled which was better because then there was a coupon so I got mm cheaper.I didn't reorder sam.The customer service was great about trying to figure out what was going on with my order.I got mm really quick and ordered tombstone lifter from qvc.I think this year they are trying to please their costumer.
I agree about placing 2 orders with coupons it's usually a better deal and if you order larger props they still add a extra ship charge so it isn't really free.The coupons are a better deal.I ended up saving around 50 even with paying shipping instead of the free ship on the previous order.Micheal is a great prop his movement is perfect.Him and jason are my favorites.


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## Dalloween (Jun 25, 2006)

I finally got to go to a Spirit store in east Texas... I'm really disappointed in the quality of most of their stuff this year. Are we sure FIT CO went out of business?


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## Don of the Dead (Jan 20, 2005)

I will say this, the Spirit near our store has new owners, they sold out of Michael Myers (as did all the MN Spirits) so I left my business card, got a call the next day from the owner saying he had on coming Tuesday and he'd hold it for me!


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## texashalloween08 (Oct 4, 2008)

*OKay, It looks like for us North Texans Spirit has updated some new stores soon to open. Here is the list: 
Spirit - Dallas Greenville 4.8 8501 AIRPORT FREEWAY
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX 76180
Opening Soon!
Get Directions 
Spirit - Arlington S Cooper St 16.5 2325 S STEMMONS FREEWAY 504
LEWISVILLE, TX 75067
Opening Soon!
Get Directions 
Spirit - Richardson Coit Rd 25.7 11411 E NORTHWEST HWY STE 127
DALLAS, TX 75218 

On another note I went to the Cow Halloween store here in Bedford, it was awful!! Most of the stuff was from last year, and the staff was outside smoking the whole time we were there! The most interesting thing they had was a rubber skeleton for $69.99. *


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

I guess I just don't get the disappointed posts in Spirit. If they were because of poor customer service, OK I'd understand that if that was the case. While Spirit may have a few authorized custom pieces, they just order what's out there. It's not like they make the stuff. I don't think there's all that many well established places that can produce props and products in quantities and in the price ranges they need in the time frame they need. As for quality, I've seen a noticeable difference in most things out there we buy. 

Personally I don't care for the kind of eyes that I've been seeing this year in props (maybe these are all Gemmy not sure). They don't really move. Instead they are a fixed eye area and when lit the eyes appear to move (the Countess is a good example). I'm sure this was done for monetary reasons -- cheaper to make maybe and less to breakdown and take back. However, to me I'd rather see a face with moving parts than a lit face which doesn't seem as natural or scary. I've also noticed there are more props with jiggling mouths for movement, as opposed to actually moving jaws when the prop talks. Again I assume it's done for the same reasons as the eyes. Lots of people have complained about the chattering jaws. So I see the designers addressed this problem with another solution. I just don't particularly like it as well I guess. What we all would want is as near as realistic as possible for rock bottom prices it seems. The saying goes, quantity, quality, price. Pick two. You can't get them all. While some here can pay for unique quality items produced in small quanities at higher prices, the vast majority can't or wouldn't. If the Gemmy glow eyes and rattling mouths are all that are being produced at prices Spirit and other stores feel they can sell and there's no other real competition, where else can they go? I feel that if stores like Spirit who sell these products were to disappear, Halloween would eventually fade away or shrink drastically because aside from people on boards like this no one would take the time to make their own stuff. For the most part I think Spirit offers a nice selection of props and products.


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## halloween71 (Apr 22, 2007)

Spookymufu said:


> my gripe is the animated props last year that went for $250 are far better in looks, animations, and sound then the ones available this year for $250.
> 
> Jason of last year looks far better in every way then the MM and executioner of this year.......I really cant see how people think that MM is nice, it's not......
> 
> and who decided lighting up the eyes of animated props was cool, it looks so cheesy.


To each his own.I love my micheal and others must like him also since they are being bought.I didn't care for hannible last year but others love him.I just didn't buy him.I do wish they would have went with the 70's face version but they didn't.I love my jason but mm moves alot better than jason imo.


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## Dalloween (Jun 25, 2006)

My perspective is from someone who has been an avid Spirit shopper for the last seven plus years. My critique of this years props is in comparison with those offered in the past few years. The prices seem to be the same (and higher) this year, but the quality has diminished. In the past few years my budget for Spirit has been in the thousands of dollars. This year, the items I want only add up to a few hundred. I'm not paying a hundred bucks for a witch who looks like she's wearing a paper dress, has a stick for a body, a tripod for feet and no animation. If their goal was to "court" the haunt community this year, I think they done a great job on marketing, but missed their mark on product. Maybe they should have used some of the forums, like this one, to do some focus groups to figure out what we actually like and don't. Like those bad light up eyes you mentioned. 



Ghost of Spookie said:


> I guess I just don't get the disappointed posts in Spirit.


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## Dalloween (Jun 25, 2006)

Some of the Dallas Spirit locations finally opened today (Oct. 1). I was told tonight that an additional location near Beltline and the Tollway in Addison would be opening some time later next week.


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## 13mummy (Aug 26, 2007)

I'm so happy they have finally decided to ship to Canada. I've been complaining on many other threads that why don't they ship to us?? Especially since Spencers doesn't carry props anymore. I even got Larry to ask them why. So at least they finally listened. =)


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## Tumblindice (Aug 19, 2008)

3 weeks ago I stopped in to my local Spirit and wanted to buy the hovering ghost. Not in stock, gave them my number expected nothing. Got a very nice call today that it was in stock and I drove by after work using %20 off coupon as well. Could not be happier it is a great prop.


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## Dalloween (Jun 25, 2006)

I've started collecting the zombie babies. So far I have jugular Jimmy and Creeping Tommy. My dogs do not like them at all. lol


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## Bullyghost (Aug 18, 2008)

Dropped by the Spirit store on Jupiter and NW Hwy last night. I will give them some slack as they were still trying to set up ...but the store is very small, lots of costumes, very little props/decorations. The props they did have out...did not work and some appeared broken. Does anyone know of other places in the area that have recently opened?


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## Dalloween (Jun 25, 2006)

Yeah, I went to both the NW Hwy location and the Lewisville location on Friday. I asked the people in Lewisville if they would be doing the trees, etc... and they said that they would but hadn't received them yet. So, it looks like they are opening the stores just to get them open, and will do the visual merchandising stuff in the next week.


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## Bullyghost (Aug 18, 2008)

Went out to the Spirit in Allen! Great folks...they explained that the city of Allen held up the permit allowing them to use the building. They were approved on Tuesday and opened the store on Friday morning! They still were unloading stuff....and said they had more on the way!

We ended up buying (4) of the zombie babies...we will be making a little fenced area in the graveyard to put them in (kinda like a creepy playpen) add some bones and a a bottle of blood for them to play with) Ha! Ha! Ha! I just fell in love with their little faces


Will try to upload a picture.


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