The Christmas spirit was high in Poughkeepsie on Monday, November 11th, 2024 until it wasn't.

Christmas lovers are highly anticipating the opening of Spirit Christmas in Dutchess County, but confusion swirls around the "Grand Opening."

Spirit Christmas Announces New York Locations

As spooky season came to a close, popular Halloween store Spirit Halloween began to tease a festive turnover.

Spirit Christmas was going to open up 10 locations across the east coast with 3 locations in New York including a location at the old Bed, Bath and Beyond on Route 9 in Poughkeepsie.

However, after Spirit Christmas testing they decided to not move forward with 2 stores (one of them being the Spirit Christmas set to open in Albany).

Thankfully, the Poughkeepsie location was still a go and word was spreading that Spirit Christmas was set to open on November 11th, 2024.

Confusion Stirs Around Grand Opening Of Poughkeepsie's Spirit Christmas

As a fan of holiday décor, I figured I would head to Spirit Christmas and see if the rumors were true. I arrived at the South Road location at 12:30 pm. Upon arrival I learned that I wasn't the only one curious, as a group started to form around the front door.

A sign was placed in front that said "Opening at 1 pm." I had time, so naturally I stayed.

JBuono
JBuono
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At this point, there had to be at least 100 people lined up out front.  1 pm rolls around and the doors haven't opened.

Around 1:25 pm a Spirit Christmas employee stuck their head out of the front door and said "We're just waiting on corporates approval to open." They didn't give us a time frame, but everyone stayed in place.

A line forms outside Spirit Christmas on what was supposed to be their opening day. - JBuono
A line forms outside Spirit Christmas Poughkeepsie location on what was supposed to be their opening day. - JBuono
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As time went on, the line started to dwindle as Spirit Christmas fans called the stores hotline and were told the location was not opening.

Around 2:05 pm, another employee stuck their head out of the door and said "We are not opening today. Corporate said we're not fit to open today."

They proceeded to put a sign out front that said "Not Open Today." So everyone in the line went home with their Christmas spirit deflated.

We reached out to Spirit Christmas PR for a comment and will update this story when we receive an response.

Is Spirit Christmas Now Open in Poughkeepsie, New York?

After all of that confusion, and all those people waiting patiently outside, did Spirit Christmas Poughkeepsie end up opening?

There were mixed signals on social media as post were being shared from alleged employees saying Spirit Christmas would be opening "this week" and "before Friday."

With that being said, a listener reached out to us and explained that they were able to get inside Spirit Christmas Poughkeepsie around 7:15 pm that night.

 

They shared photos with us of Christmas hats with explicit sayings on them and added "They had some nice stuff. It's definitely not bargain pricing."

Rebecca Morgan Imperati
Rebecca Morgan Imperati
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So, YES. Spirit Christmas in Poughkeepsie is open daily starting (November 12th , 2024) at 10 am with Santa's schedule beginning on November 29th, 2024.

JBuono
JBuono
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As one of the people who waited in that opening day line for an hour and half, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed.

Will that keep me away from Spirit Christmas? Probably not, but that's because no one can knock my holiday cheer!

Spirit Halloween Relaunches Spirit Christmas with 3 New York Locations

Spirit Christmas is a seasonal retail store operated by Spencer Spirit Holdings. A sister brand to Spirit Halloween, the store offers various decorations and costumes for the Christmas season, along with visits from Santa Claus. If you're expecting it to be a spooky kind of Christmas store, don't. It will be a tried and true Christmas store.

At some point, the 1990’s incarnation of the store was discontinued. Spencer Gifts tested the concept themselves after acquiring the Spirit Halloween brand in 1999, operating their own Spirit Christmas stores in 2005 and 2006. In 2024, the store was revived once more, with 10 locations set to open. Below, you can find the full list of locations

Gallery Credit: Conor M Walsh

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