What Happens to Leftover Spirit Halloween Costumes (Exclusive)

Walk along the walls of any of the 1,525 Spirit Halloween locations across the country, and you’ll encounter a familiar layout. In the New York City flagship store, a former Bye Bye Baby location, the first thing you see upon entering is an immersive haunted house experience. As you walk through the tunnel, you’re greeted by the sweet aroma of cotton candy.

From there, you can explore what Nikki Balles, Senior Director of PR & Brand Image at Spirit Halloween, refers to as the “cozy section,” filled with Halloween-themed pajamas, fleece slippers, an array of dog costumes and $29.99 spooky tumbler cups — including a highly sought-after bedazzled version that’s almost impossible to find.

Continuing your journey, you’ll discover the store’s DIY wall, stocked with every costume essential you could need — hats, bodysuits, wigs and animal ears — to bring even the wildest Halloween costume fantasies to life. This includes accessories for fans wanting to dress up as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, as Balles notes that licensing for actual costumes representative of the pair would be too costly for the store.

Next, you’ll find a wall lined with thousands of pre-packaged costumes, featuring everything from classic options like witches, angels and clowns to trending designs that you might spot on your social media For You Page. This year, those costumes range from the Mob Wife aesthetic to Skibidi Toilet, a web series popular on YouTube. You can also channel the most talked-about moments, including Haliey Welch-approved Hawk Tuah merch.

As the Halloween costume season officially kicks off for Spirit when they open their flagship New Jersey location on Aug. 1, the abundance of options can be overwhelming. But there’s one burning question: where does all this merchandise go when Halloween is officially over?

“We sell ’em next year,” Balles tells PEOPLE, pointing to the Barbie costumes hanging on the shelf, which were still popular this year. “We have distribution centers and partners that manage the whole process.”

“The goal is to sell as much as we can, but if we do have leftover products — especially classic items like witches and pirates that never go out of style — we use them next year,” she adds. Spirit wouldn’t confirm the percentage of merchandise they sell each year.

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Balles also mentions the company’s Spirit of Children program, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to bringing joy to children in local hospitals. Throughout the year, they partner with 160 hospitals to throw parties, providing kid-friendly costumes and other products to brighten their days. Since 2006, Spirit has donated $127 million and hosted numerous events.

“Every dollar we raise goes directly to supporting these hospitals,” she says. “Our goal is to make the hospital experience less intimidating for kids by providing fun and engaging activities.”

As Halloween crept closer, there were still thousands of costumes on stores shelves, but Balles says the company is already deep into planning for 2025. She says some might assume they only operate around Halloween, but the team is continually conceptualizing and developing merchandise. They are currently assessing movies set to release next year and creating related products.

“There are all sorts of different departments, including real estate and product development. We really pride ourselves on offering a diverse assortment of merchandise tied to movies, trends and significant cultural moments,” she says.

“We consider ourselves a hybrid retailer, not just a pop-up retailer, because there are so many elements that go into opening a store,” Balles adds. “You have to stop, source real estate, stock the store, get the product in and set everything up — making sure the air conditioning is working, for example. There are so many layers involved, and then you have to pack up, get out and start planning for the next year. It’s a complex process, and we’re not just popping up out of nowhere.”

When asked if they feel pressure as a brand, Balles responds, “No, we love that. I was talking with our CEO last week, and he said, ‘How lucky are we to be Spirit Halloween?’ When he was asked about our biggest competitor or concern, he replied that his biggest concern is when we stop loving what we do so much. I thought that was so spot on because no one loves what they do more than our team.” Balles adds, “That’s what makes it so fun!”