Spirit Halloween haunts former local stores
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Spooky season means the return of Spirit Halloween — and here in Central Ohio, the purveyors of costumes and ghostly decor are haunting the former homes of one of Columbus' recently departed companies.
Why it matters: It just doesn't feel like October until you drive by a big-box store you once knew and think, "Wait, that's a Spirit Halloween now?"
The big picture: Axios analyzed every Spirit Halloween location this year and found the most common previous tenants were Joann Fabrics, Big Lots and Party City.
- The company leans into the bit — its store locator even lists the building's most recent use.
Spirit bills itself as North America's largest Halloween retailer, and relies on temporary leases to transform vacant storefronts into seasonal shops.
- The arrangements bring property owners exposure and a few months of rent while they search for long-term tenants.
Locally, Spirit Halloween has found a comfy home inside the corpse of Columbus' own Value City Furniture, which went out of business earlier this year following its 2025 bankruptcy.
Here's what our area Spirit Halloweens used to be:
Dublin, 3700 W. Dublin-Granville Road.
- Once a key tenant of the Sun Center, this former Value City is a whopping 43,000 square feet.
Easton, 3707 Easton Market.
- Easton's Spirit Halloween is a former Party City, which announced closures in late 2024.
- Interestingly, there's a closed Value City just down the street that didn't make the Spirit cut.
Gemini, 1091 Gemini Place.
- This 37,500-square-foot storefront was architecture worth bragging about when it opened as Value City Furniture — now, it's got a big orange sign out front.
Heath, 725 Hebron Road.
- The Heath site was a former American Freight, a discount mattress and furniture company.
- But American Freight wasn't the only tenant here. It took over part of a space that was, you guessed it, a former Value City.
Hilliard-Rome, 4300 W. Broad St.
- Another former Value City, this location appears to have once been a Hobby Lobby as well.
Lancaster, 1701 River Valley Circle S.
- This site was once the Sears that anchored River Valley Mall.
Polaris, 1320 Polaris Pkwy.
- Just down the street from the Gemini location, this large space is the former home of Polaris' Pier 1, the decor company that's filed for bankruptcy multiple times.
Reynoldsburg I, 6867 E. Broad St.
- A Giant Eagle for years, this was earlier a Big Bear until 2004, a classic old Columbus brand.
Reynoldsburg II, 6067 E. Main St.
- You already know — it's another former Value City.