Spirit Halloween’s vulture-like business model keeps operating costs low by snapping up short-term leases in vacant retail spaces, making itself a rare beneficiary of private equity’s hollowing out of big box stores across the country.

As All Hallows’ Eve approaches, more than 1,300 Spirit Halloween stores have temporarily opened their doors across the United States and Canada, bringing seasonal life back to empty big-box locations abandoned in the retail apocalypse.

By moving into the former locations of brands like Bed Bath & Beyond, Rite Aid, Sears, JoAnn Fabrics, Forever 21, and Big Lots — once-ubiquitous retail powerhouses sent to an early grave after being bankrupted by private equity — Spirit Halloween has made itself a rare beneficiary of Wall Street bloodsuckers’ hollowing out o

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