I think they call them “popup” stores. They are seasonal businesses that rent empty storefronts by the month and sell goods for part of the year. the ones I notice are the halloween stores. Sometimes they occupy a place in a shopping mall. With the changes in the way that Americans purchase and the increase of online retail sales, most shopping malls have empty stores. Around here the halloween stores also open up in strip malls and other locations. For the most part, I ignore those stores and I have never actually gone into one of them. We don’t decorate for Halloween. In the neighborhood where we live we don’t feel any need to decorate. We have plenty of neighbors who go all out with Halloween decorations. We are able to celebrate by purchasing several bags of treats to give to children and sit on our front porch on Halloween evening watching the children and their parents come and go. Our grandchildren come to our neighborhood and make our home their base for going trick or treat because the houses are closer together where we live.

I haven’t been thinking of Halloween much lately, however. After all it is August and Halloween is the very end of October. I’ve still got two and a half months to get ready, and the way we celebrate the holiday doesn’t require much preparation.

However, I noticed back in July that there was a section in a local membership warehouse store that was devoted to Halloween. Since I wasn’t thinking of the Holiday, I didn’t go over to that section of the store. I prefer to dash in, get the specific items I want, and get out as quickly as possible. I think they probably had large bags of candy on sale there. They specialize in large quantities of nearly everything they sell. What I noticed most about the display was that it features several very large outdoor decorations. There were a couple of motorized figures that were moving about. The display was at least 20 or 25 feet high to accommodate the large figures.

Not long afterward I noticed that there is an aisle of costumes and candy in a local grocery store where we shop. I suppose that I could purchase candy treats to pass out on Halloween, but since I won’t need any for more than two months it seems silly for me to have to store the candy and for them to have my money at this time. I’ll wait until the holiday draws closer to pick up the treats.

The creepiest of holidays is experiencing holiday creep. Each year the marketing around that holiday creeps earlier and earlier and the season of marketing gets longer and longer. Slightly intrigued by the holiday creep, I went online to see if I could tell when the popup store would open. I discovered that there are two of them that are already open in nearby Bellingham, and a dozen more scattered in and around Vancouver, BC, just across the border. There are even two on Vancouver Island that are open for business.

It certainly seems like the popup stores must be signing three month leases rather than opening for just a single month. I haven’t been paying attention. Maybe they operate for six months of the year. It seems strange to think of a halloween specialty store opening in May, but maybe they do. I don’t know. I guess it is possible that some stores that specialize in the business operate year around like a few Christmas stores of which I am aware.

I’m probably old fashioned, but I think of Halloween as a children’s holiday. I will have treats ready to hand out when the day rolls around because I like children and I enjoy seeing their costumes. The way the holiday is celebrated in our neighborhood is safe, with lots of adults keeping track of their children. Most of the groups that come to our house have a parent with them. A few groups of teens will come by, and I feel like our neighborhood is safe for them as well.

I don’t plan to have a costume for the celebration. The children who come to our house don’t care what I am wearing. I’ll go with buy usual attire. I think that the costumes are for the children who enjoy stirring their imaginations. Some families, however, have definitely given a lot of thought to their preparations, entire family groups will have theme-matched costumes. I guess those people might be already planning for their night out.

I like having a children’s holiday right before All Saints. The day after Halloween I will think of those who have served others well during their lives and gone before. They are an inspiration for me to engage in service to my community. I like having memorial services in our church and remembering those who have contributed to the community we enjoy. Good things, however, are often more enjoyable because of anticipation. Halloween and All Saints are meaningful to me in part because they are special days. If the costume store operates year round and the big box store has its display of goodies out for months, it seems like the holiday is diluted. Everyday Halloween seems like it would be boring.

I guess it isn’t boring for someone who needs the job. The employees in the seasonal stores probably count on the income from the work and are pleased to have the popup stores open for a few extra weeks and months. Maybe they would like to see the businesses remain open and offer their jobs all year round.

For now, I plan to enjoy August with trips to the beach, visits to the mountains, and a bit of camping. I’ll let the Halloween treats remain on the shelves in the stores for a while even if it means that some of the stores will be decorated for Christmas by the time I get around to purchasing treats for our celebration. I also plan to keep my streak of never having gone inside a popup halloween store intact. They’ll have plenty of customers without me.