"Spirit is pretty much a bottom-feeder business that works only at the expense of other stores; if there weren't vacant storefronts, this business wouldn't exist," I don’t follow this train of...
"Spirit is pretty much a bottom-feeder business that works only at the expense of other stores; if there weren't vacant storefronts, this business wouldn't exist,"
I don’t follow this train of thought. How does Spirit exist at the expense of other stores? It doesn't force anyone out of their locations, it just occupies the space after the previous tenant failed.
Someone existing at the expense of other stores seems more like kiosks at malls or a food truck outside a business that has other food permanently available inside. Those kind of subtract customers from the main attraction but otherwise would not be something that people would generally travel to.
The analogy doesn't work either - bottom feeders in an ecological sense do not live "at the expense" of anyone else. It is not the problem of bottom-feeders that larger organisms have finite...
The analogy doesn't work either - bottom feeders in an ecological sense do not live "at the expense" of anyone else. It is not the problem of bottom-feeders that larger organisms have finite lifespans. The right word for what they're describing is "parasite". I'm guessing it's just a poor choice of words from their part - or maybe some latent anger at the fact that Spirit Halloween highlights poor urban development by their existence. Probably a bridge too far, though.
Even parasite isn't very apt, because parasites steal resources from their host. This business has no impact on the "host" until it is dead and gone. Bottom feeder might be correct, but that...
Even parasite isn't very apt, because parasites steal resources from their host.
This business has no impact on the "host" until it is dead and gone. Bottom feeder might be correct, but that doesn't mean that their existence hurts the previous owner.
Yeah agreed, or carrion feeders. Or to spin it another way, hermit crabs! They don’t make the shells they inhabit, but they’re totally happy to make use of them once the original owners have left...
Yeah agreed, or carrion feeders.
Or to spin it another way, hermit crabs! They don’t make the shells they inhabit, but they’re totally happy to make use of them once the original owners have left the empty shell behind!
if anything "bottom feeder" makes more sense. spirit halloween benefits from the deaths of other businesses, but has no hand in accelerating that. they fill the ecological niche of "the corpse of...
if anything "bottom feeder" makes more sense. spirit halloween benefits from the deaths of other businesses, but has no hand in accelerating that. they fill the ecological niche of "the corpse of this business is just sitting here rotting next ot the strip mall, better do something useful with it".
That and seems like every shopping center I've driven by in the last decade has at least 3 vacant storefronts. Its almost as if between Walmart and Amazon retail outlets got decimated 20 years...
That and seems like every shopping center I've driven by in the last decade has at least 3 vacant storefronts.
Its almost as if between Walmart and Amazon retail outlets got decimated 20 years ago. There are very few niches that still remain that lets you keep an edge over those two.
One of my favorite videos to give me joy right around this time is Nick Lutsko's Sprit Halloween theme song. I can't find it, but Spirit Halloween actually kicked him off and paid him for it. Even...
I also think "at the expense of" isn't the right wording. To me, that implies that Spirit had some part, even small, of causing the previous business to close. What I think the author must mean is...
I also think "at the expense of" isn't the right wording. To me, that implies that Spirit had some part, even small, of causing the previous business to close.
What I think the author must mean is that they're only able to exist because the previous store closed and the space has been vacant long term. If the local economy was healthy and designed in a sustainable manner, those original businesses either wouldn't have closed, or another permanent business would have been able to come in and use the space.
"expense" is the wrong word here. spirit halloween exists because other stores fail, but it plays no active role in their demise. businesses don't fail because of spirit halloween, but businesses...
"expense" is the wrong word here. spirit halloween exists because other stores fail, but it plays no active role in their demise. businesses don't fail because of spirit halloween, but businesses that do fail end up sustaining spirit halloween's business model.
in this sense, "bottom feeder" sounds about right.
I was hoping there would be more details about the logistics and corp structure. Like how they search for storefronts, is it boots on the ground locally or a central core group of employees...
I was hoping there would be more details about the logistics and corp structure. Like how they search for storefronts, is it boots on the ground locally or a central core group of employees looking online. Or how they quickly spin up the merchandise and restocking. And margins/optimizations. Things like that, unfortunately this article was very light on the how they do it part despite the title.
Agree. The most impressive part of their ability to appear overnight isn’t that they’re able to lease empty storefronts (empty stores easy to lease at short notice, news at 11); it’s that they’re...
Agree. The most impressive part of their ability to appear overnight isn’t that they’re able to lease empty storefronts (empty stores easy to lease at short notice, news at 11); it’s that they’re able to lease empty storefronts and fill them with stock overnight, all across the country, in perfect sync. That speaks to some really highly optimized supply chains! Lots of interesting aspects to it that this didn’t touch on.
An interesting aspect I was hoping the article would answer is how they staff something that only operates a short time each year. As you said, they've got a really labour-intensive supply chain...
An interesting aspect I was hoping the article would answer is how they staff something that only operates a short time each year. As you said, they've got a really labour-intensive supply chain that runs for a short time – I can't imagine they keep staff on hand all year for that. Even at the management level I'd guess there's got to be a lot of coordination roles that can't be busy most of the year.
By only operating during their peak season, their year-long overheads are going to be very low (basically just the admin staff required to secure storefronts and organize everything for the next...
how they staff something that only operates a short time each year
By only operating during their peak season, their year-long overheads are going to be very low (basically just the admin staff required to secure storefronts and organize everything for the next season), so they can afford to provide relatively high pay to attract temporary workers.
(I have no idea if they actually do this.)
Spirit's also not competing for seasonal workers with regular retail during the Christmas orgy of consumerism rush, which likely helps them.
Huh, that actually does answer something I was wondering about — why don't they expand into the Christmas period with the same model? Without much thought I figured they could do much the same thing.
Spirit's also not competing for seasonal workers with regular retail during the Christmas orgy of consumerism rush, which likely helps them.
Huh, that actually does answer something I was wondering about — why don't they expand into the Christmas period with the same model? Without much thought I figured they could do much the same thing.
Agreed. A few years ago, my godson worked at one and was soon promoted to (obviously temporary) manager. It apparently is a crazy gig. I wish I'd had an opportunity to ask him more about the...
Agreed.
A few years ago, my godson worked at one and was soon promoted to (obviously temporary) manager. It apparently is a crazy gig. I wish I'd had an opportunity to ask him more about the logistics.
Well, that's a simple explanation. They spend eight months shopping for spaces. There was actually one that was a permanent shop near me, up for a few years almost like a bootleg Spencers. It was...
Well, that's a simple explanation. They spend eight months shopping for spaces.
There was actually one that was a permanent shop near me, up for a few years almost like a bootleg Spencers. It was a cool shop.
"Spirit is pretty much a bottom-feeder business that works only at the expense of other stores; if there weren't vacant storefronts, this business wouldn't exist,"
I don’t follow this train of thought. How does Spirit exist at the expense of other stores? It doesn't force anyone out of their locations, it just occupies the space after the previous tenant failed.
Someone existing at the expense of other stores seems more like kiosks at malls or a food truck outside a business that has other food permanently available inside. Those kind of subtract customers from the main attraction but otherwise would not be something that people would generally travel to.
The analogy doesn't work either - bottom feeders in an ecological sense do not live "at the expense" of anyone else. It is not the problem of bottom-feeders that larger organisms have finite lifespans. The right word for what they're describing is "parasite". I'm guessing it's just a poor choice of words from their part - or maybe some latent anger at the fact that Spirit Halloween highlights poor urban development by their existence. Probably a bridge too far, though.
Even parasite isn't very apt, because parasites steal resources from their host.
This business has no impact on the "host" until it is dead and gone. Bottom feeder might be correct, but that doesn't mean that their existence hurts the previous owner.
They're fungi. They help process the remains of the dead
Yeah agreed, or carrion feeders.
Or to spin it another way, hermit crabs! They don’t make the shells they inhabit, but they’re totally happy to make use of them once the original owners have left the empty shell behind!
if anything "bottom feeder" makes more sense. spirit halloween benefits from the deaths of other businesses, but has no hand in accelerating that. they fill the ecological niche of "the corpse of this business is just sitting here rotting next ot the strip mall, better do something useful with it".
That and seems like every shopping center I've driven by in the last decade has at least 3 vacant storefronts.
Its almost as if between Walmart and Amazon retail outlets got decimated 20 years ago. There are very few niches that still remain that lets you keep an edge over those two.
One of my favorite videos to give me joy right around this time is Nick Lutsko's Sprit Halloween theme song.
I can't find it, but Spirit Halloween actually kicked him off and paid him for it. Even uploaded it to their YouTube page.
"This is the theme of Spirit Halloween, haunting the buildings of every business Jeff Bezos killed!"
I also think "at the expense of" isn't the right wording. To me, that implies that Spirit had some part, even small, of causing the previous business to close.
What I think the author must mean is that they're only able to exist because the previous store closed and the space has been vacant long term. If the local economy was healthy and designed in a sustainable manner, those original businesses either wouldn't have closed, or another permanent business would have been able to come in and use the space.
"expense" is the wrong word here. spirit halloween exists because other stores fail, but it plays no active role in their demise. businesses don't fail because of spirit halloween, but businesses that do fail end up sustaining spirit halloween's business model.
in this sense, "bottom feeder" sounds about right.
I was hoping there would be more details about the logistics and corp structure. Like how they search for storefronts, is it boots on the ground locally or a central core group of employees looking online. Or how they quickly spin up the merchandise and restocking. And margins/optimizations. Things like that, unfortunately this article was very light on the how they do it part despite the title.
Agree. The most impressive part of their ability to appear overnight isn’t that they’re able to lease empty storefronts (empty stores easy to lease at short notice, news at 11); it’s that they’re able to lease empty storefronts and fill them with stock overnight, all across the country, in perfect sync. That speaks to some really highly optimized supply chains! Lots of interesting aspects to it that this didn’t touch on.
An interesting aspect I was hoping the article would answer is how they staff something that only operates a short time each year. As you said, they've got a really labour-intensive supply chain that runs for a short time – I can't imagine they keep staff on hand all year for that. Even at the management level I'd guess there's got to be a lot of coordination roles that can't be busy most of the year.
By only operating during their peak season, their year-long overheads are going to be very low (basically just the admin staff required to secure storefronts and organize everything for the next season), so they can afford to provide relatively high pay to attract temporary workers.
(I have no idea if they actually do this.)
Spirit's also not competing for seasonal workers with regular retail during the Christmas
orgy of consumerismrush, which likely helps them.Huh, that actually does answer something I was wondering about — why don't they expand into the Christmas period with the same model? Without much thought I figured they could do much the same thing.
Agreed.
A few years ago, my godson worked at one and was soon promoted to (obviously temporary) manager. It apparently is a crazy gig. I wish I'd had an opportunity to ask him more about the logistics.
Well, that's a simple explanation. They spend eight months shopping for spaces.
There was actually one that was a permanent shop near me, up for a few years almost like a bootleg Spencers. It was a cool shop.
Spirit owns Spencers. It was likely a lot of overlap in actual inventory.