What were these central Ohio stores before they were Spirit Halloweens?

NBC4i.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- As October settles upon central Ohio, the vibrant orange banner popping up in strip malls and shopping centers can only mean one thing: Spirit Halloween has moved in.

Spirit Halloween set a new record by opening 1,525 stores this year, according to a company news release. The seasonal storefronts pop up, taking on the skeletons of former retailers and grocery stores before vanishing once more in early November.

Spirit Halloween has nine stores within 50 miles of Columbus, so NBC4 dug into the ghosts of storefronts past. Here's what they were before.

1717 West Lane Ave.

This Upper Arlington Spirit Halloween location may hold costumes and props inside, but it used to offer a variety of home goods within its brick walls. The former Bed, Bath & Beyond closed alongside more than 150 stores in early 2023.

^{The Bed Bath & Beyond at 1717 W. Lane Ave. in Upper Arlington is now set to shut down. (Courtesy Photo/Franklin County Auditor's Office)}

1871 W. Henderson Road

This Spirit Halloween, also in Upper Arlington, was formerly a TJ Maxx and HomeGoods. The location closed in September 2023. Now, the storefront offers décor for just one holiday: Halloween.

5053 Tuttle Crossing Blvd

Spirit Halloween's pop up store at The Mall at Tuttle Crossing took advantage of the vacancy left by a Sears. In 2019, Sears closed two local stores as part of over 200 closures across the country. As of January, 2024, Sears had only 12 stores remaining, including one in Puerto Rico.

1320 Polaris Parkway

Mass store closures also cleared the way for this Spirit Halloween. The storefront's shelves are now filled with ghouls, bones and spiderwebs, but they used to hold much less eerie home decorations as a Pier 1 location. The vacancy opened in 2020, when Pier 1 Imports closed all of its storefronts and the retailer filed for bankruptcy.

^{Courtesy photo / Delaware County Auditor}

921 Polaris Parkway

This Spirit Halloween took over the only local business on this list, moving into the space formerly occupied by Azia Rug Gallery. The carpet store was family-owned and sold ornate rugs, often hand made. The store closed in May 2023, according to its social media.

245 Deo Drive

East of Columbus, a Spirit Halloween location is filling shelves that used to hold produce, bread and meats. The Newark Spirit Halloween moved into Indian Valley Mall Shopping Center's former Kroger. The grocery store closed in early 2017.

1081 Mount Vernon Ave.

In Marion, a Spirit Halloween moved in down the street from Ohio State University's Marion campus. Just a few months ago, however, visitors could fill their prescriptions instead of their trick-or-treat baskets. The Rite Aid formerly situated on Mount Vernon Avenue closed just this past summer, one of 102 closures in Ohio alone as of July 6.

^{Courtesy photo / Marion County Auditor}

979 North Bechtle Ave.

This Springfield Spirit Halloween shares its address with a current Furniture Express, but the Halloween store really sits adjacent to the furniture store where an Office Max once stood. According to YouTube videos by user Slacking Packing, which filmed the store in its final days, the office supply store closed in May 2022.

1853 N. Bridge St.

This Chillicothe location sits near the Hopeton Earthworks and the Scioto River, but it was once the site of an Aldi. According to the Scioto Post, the Aldi closed in 2021 when the international grocery store chain opened a new location, also on North Bridge Street. The Scioto Post reported Aldi invested $1.4 million into the new location, where they relocated the former grocery store and made way for Spirit Halloween.