The days are getting shorter. Pumpkin spice is here. Students are back in school. Now might be the time to start thinking about Halloween costumes.

You may have noticed Halloween stores popping up all over Detroit, especially Spirit Halloween. But why are the stores popping up in malls that seem to be on every other street? The company is sharing insight into how it chooses its locations for the season.

Some Halloween stores stay in one location for years, but Spirit Halloween is only open a few months a year and operates at different pop-up locations from one year to the next.

With locations opening on or around September 1 and remaining open through November 1, the company is looking for temporary 3-month leases, ideally running from mid-July to mid-November.

The company focuses on lifestyle centers, shopping malls, freestanding stores and large downtown retail locations. The ideal store offers between 5,000 and 5,500 square feet of retail space and excellent visibility.

The company aims to locate in communities with a population of approximately 35,000 people living within a 5 to 8 kilometer radius of the store.

Stores don’t close right after Halloween, but usually one to two weeks after October 31st for last-minute bargains.