Spirit Halloween takes over empty stores every fall—explore the eerie allure behind these spooky pop-ups and what they say about the decline of retail.
This is 99% invisible.
I'm Roman Mars.
There's a storefront at a major intersection in downtown Toronto at Spadina and King Street.
The space is about 11,000 square feet and it used to house a massive liquor store right in the middle of Canada's biggest city.
For years I worked down the street and let me tell you, that liquor store was bumping.
That's producer Chris Berube.
I remember lines out the door before holidays and setting aside a whole lunch hour just to get a bottle of wine.
But in 2019, the liquor store moved to a new, bigger location close by and the shop at Spadina and King closed.
Since then, all 11,000 square feet have been empty.
For a long time I wondered, okay, what is going to move in there?
I mean, this is a big time space right downtown.
But in 2019, it sat empty.
2020, still empty.
2021, empty.
2022.
Okay, you get the point.
But it's only empty for about nine months out of the year because every fall, just like clockwork, the space has been possessed by a spirit.
By a spirit.
If you live in the US or Canada, you have probably seen the orange, yellow and black Spirit Halloween signs.
They go up sometime in August in 1500 empty storefronts.