Spirit Halloween Gets Glamorous, Takes Over NYC Barney’s

We’ve done it, folks. Horror has won. The iconic NYC luxury staple Barney’s shut its doors last year, and it’s since been taken over by Spirit Halloween for its upcoming spooky season. While we don’t love to see anyone losing jobs or livelihoods, it’s still nice to see horror culture so obviously invade the mainstream.

As any horror fan knows, it’s not uncommon to see a Spirit Halloween parasite defunct retail spaces. It’s sort of their thing. Since the pandemic violently disrupted brick and mortar, there’s definitely no lack of real estate for our favorite vagabond to take over.

So, where is this latest location? Spirit’s newest grand opening sits on 101 Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, New York City. The once-home to the long-lasting luxury goods store where New York City’s most privileged would buy their handbags and watches. (I mean, I think? I wouldn’t know, they wouldn’t let me in.)

Check out the take over:

The former luxury store shuttered its doors during 2020, about a year after it had filed for bankruptcy. This was bad news for Barney’s flagship location too, which was only a stone’s throw away from this spot.

The location in question features a fantasy spiral staircase and extremely ritzy interiors. Some might consider this a strange choice for the world’s premier Halloween costume store—not me, though. I think this is setting a much better precedent for a classy horror lifestyle. Why should spooky goods always be assigned to empty military goods stores or defunct McDonald’s locations? No more.

Spirit’s latest haunt hosts 50,000-square feet of grande, sparkling real estate. The surrounding area is just as glam, too. The Spirit Halloween store is placed at the base of a 20-story condo complex stuffed full of the wealthiest characters District 1 has to offer. Ever since the luxury goods peddler shut its doors, the location was a ghost town. Until now, anyway.

Even in the face of a pandemic, Spirit Halloween managed to open 1,400 storefronts last year. You can’t keep a spooky girl down. When will the normies ever learn?

What do you think about the terrifying takeover? Let me know on Twitter via @joshkorngut. I’m always down to talk about all things horror culture! You can also let your voice be heard in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Dread Central is now on Google News.

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