Spirit Halloween already open

Spirit Halloween Assistant Manager Lindsay Sushio stocks the shelves with the store’s exclusive line of Leg Avenue sexy costumes.

Halloween is right around the corner and Spirit Halloween in south Fort Myers is ready for the scary season.

The company, which is affiliated with Spencer’s Gifts, is selling costumes, decorations, and accessories.

“We are everything Halloween. Decorations, costumes, latex props and our goal is to sell everything in the store,” said Ryan Jefferson, the manager at the 8,000 square foot store in the Jamaica Bay Plaza. “We have to have a big store because we have so much inventory.”

The inventory this season will include a new line of Playboy costumes for adults as well as new decorations for the home and parties.

“Every year we grow and we do have to reorder stuff but we try not to so we sell everything,” said Jefferson, about the store that will close Nov. 2 and anything left will be stored and sold next year. “We shift stuff around the store as inventory goes to make sure we sell it.”

And sell it they do.

Spencer’s Gifts has opened Spirit Halloween in six locations in Florida including Naples, Bonita Springs and Bradenton. There are more than 425 stores nationwide.

“A lot of people come in and it gets busier as Halloween is closer because of parties and decorating,” said Lindsay Sushio, assistant manager. “This year we expect a lot of people because we are right on U.S. 41.”

Last year, the store was located on U.S. 41 and Colonial but it was hard to find behind other buildings.

Because they are now more centrally located, the store is hiring anyone with previous retail experience.

“It’s very fast paced and there are a lot of customers all at once,” said Jefferson, who opened the store last week with a few employees. “We don’t have much time to ‘train’ people but it’s also because we are here only two months.”

Sushio advises anyone looking for a specific item this year to buy it now.

“We run out of everything so soon,” she said adding that they also have an exclusive line of sexier costumes for women. “We sell all the decorations the fastest, but if you want them, you have to come early.”

The store also sells make-up, party favors like bowls with spider webbing and have animatronics.