[Mandathewitch]

Well we went shopping at a dozen places today...Including Walmart.

Well they had shelves full of Halloween Stuff... IN BOXES. I asked an associate when they were planning to put it all out and she said "I dunno, sometime soon"... I love how vague that response is! They DO however already have out THOUSANDS OF POUNDS of Halloween Candy. 3 Aisles worth. I did Buy some. Some Candy Corns. But Flavored! Pumpkin Spice and Apple Cider... Both of which are very tasty... and only $1.88 a bag!

I've included a Picture. I know there are people on here who crave this stuff, and these are awesome!

Big Lots was a totally different story. They had like 5 Aisles of Halloween Stuff. All Overpriced IMHO. I mean $15 for a cheap skeleton that Walmart will sell for $10 is absurd.... and 10 Flicker Lights for $9.... Still they were in full fledge Halloween Mode, and I loved every minute of it. I bought some placemats, and a cute Candy Bowl.

Joann's Halloween Aisle is pathethic this year. 2 Aisles, and one of those is costumes. The actual decor is beyond cheap and severely overpriced for the quality. I've never been so disappointed. I did however manage to get some AWESOME sparkly skull fabric for my skirt for my costume. $9.09 a yd ON SALE though.

We went a bunch of other places that had nothing to do with halloween too, so I won't post about that stuff....

but im telling you. these candy corns totally rock!

 

[jdubbya]

I wasn't too impressed with Walmart last year. Flat selection. I think I got a few packs of creepy cloth (cheapest around) and some foam skulls but the rest was kind of blah.. I've stopped by Big Lots twice and they were a Big Disappointment so far. I'm hoping they get some better stuff in. I've crossed off Michaels and AC Mooe already. Nothing to speak of at either place. Spirit opens Monday so will spend some time checking thatr out, and Party City is still stocking (very slow this year), but from what I've seen it's a lot of stuff recycled from last year.

 

[Dragonomine]

I had to pop into AC Moore for my daughter's school project and checkes out the "MAYBE" aisle and a half of halloween stuff. Truly, not worth the trip. They already have some Christmas stuff out. I've been pretty disappointed in them for a long time now.

 

[Halloween Princess]

Joann's Halloween Aisle is pathethic this year. 2 Aisles, and one of those is costumes. The actual decor is beyond cheap and severely overpriced for the quality.

Not mine! It had 5 or 6 rows with some great stuff. I managed to get out of there spending only $100. It was hard work not to spend way more.

 

[Effie]

I ran by our local Wal-Mart today to see if they started yet, and the bad news is, the shelves are bare with boxes sitting all over them and those sheets showing where stuff is supposed to go. Nothing was unpacked yet. The good news is that for the past two years, they only put up one tiny aisle of Halloween stuff in the middle of the store, mostly costumes and accessories, whereas in the not so distant past, they used to have a TON of great stuff out in the garden center where it took up most of that space, airblown inflatables, animated props, and all sorts of cool stuff -- and this year they're putting everything out in the garden center again! So even though none of the boxes were open, they had dedicated a lot of space to them and I'm hopeful that we might some see some of the great items they used to have . . .

as for the disappointing showing in some of the other stores that have started putting out stuff, I'm hopeful that it may be early days yet and this is just a teaser and that they will bringing out the big guns a little later . . . it seems like I remember this happening in years past, but my memory is not so good anymore . . .

 

[Mandathewitch]

Joann's is next door to Michaels here, and They've had the fall stuff out for about 3-4 weeks now. We go into Joann's and Michaels about once a week for fabric, and crafting stuff... and it's been a week since they cleared the 2 aisles where the halloween stuff is going. No other aisles are cleared off, or even have clearance stuff on em.

Our Walmart's... at least Shawline and Poway, seem to go full out for halloween each year, and last year I happened by Shawline (which is about 10 miles away) Labor Day weekend, and they had EVERYTHING out.... this year NONE of our local walmarts are prepared. I want to say to these people... HELLO. You could of gotten at LEAST $50 out of me today had they had their halloween stuff out.... I need cheap bendy knives, some creepy table clothes, a couple of skele's (i actually need them to look plastic and fake...), and some table decorations... The Poway Store was SUPER busy today. All 20 front lanes 3-5 ppl deep, and the garden dept (where i normally check out) was 15+ deep. They could of made some serious money had they gotten rid of all the stupid excess back to school stuff... Seriously, there was NO ONE wandering the future halloween aisles cuz it was all stuff that was already inside the store (and THOSE aisles inside the store were pretty desolate too).

I guess I'm just ranting....

The nearest "spirit" halloween stores to me are NOT returning this year, and the nearest will now be 12 miles away (as opposed to 3 miles, 5 miles, and 8 miles). Doesn't sound like far, but it's just annoying to say the least. My FAVORITE spirit store is currently being turned into a 99 cent store... where everything in there ends in .99. (total ripoff store imho...) Not at ALL like a Dollar Tree.

Here's my dilemma. I don't want to drive to ANY of these spirit stores. I do live about a block from the freeway, so freeway access is quick, but whomever created their "distance" map for spirit halloween is a complete idiot. Sorry if you read this, but it's true. These numbers for distance from my zip code can't be accurate at ALL. I checked my parents (whom live in the same zip, but further east), and their numbers are even further.

Spirit Halloween Stores Near 92131

Spirit - Henry's Marketplace 6.5mi. HENRY'S MARKETPLACE
SANTEE, CA 92071 *---- This is not accurate at all. This place is about a 30 minute car ride ON THE FREEWAY (traffic is ALWAYS bad to get there)... a little over 12 miles.

Get Directions
Spirit - Grossmont Center 10mi. GROSSMONT CENTER
LA MESA, CA 91942 *------ This really is 12 miles away. I'm not sure where they are getting their "distance" from, since I entered my actual zip... map

Spirit - Parkway Plaza 10.6mi. PARKWAY PLAZA
EL CAJON, CA 92020 *----- this is actually further east than Grossmont Center, off the same freeway! and it's WAY further than half a mile... Mapquest says 20.6 miles from my house.

Spirit - Arena Plaza 11.3 mi. ARENA PLAZA
SAN DIEGO, CA 92110 *---- Yeah. This is Closer than Parkway Plaza! (15.6 mi)

Spirit - North County Fair 12.2 mi. NORTH COUNTY FAIR
ESCONDIDO, CA 92025 *---- This is fairly accurate. It's 12.7 miles from my house. This is probably the only spirit I will visit, and it happens to be in the lower level of the abandoned Robinson'sMay/Macy's Building there.

Spirit - Sweetwater Crossing 16.9mi. SWEETWATER CROSSING
NATIONAL CITY, CA 91950 *------ This is a 35 minute drive straight down the freeway. 25.3 miles. Yeah. Not gonna happen.


So basically I'm stuck with Walmarts and Target... *big sigh* WTB better halloween stuff!

 

[Halloween_Queen]

me and a friend plan to make our first rounds of the season tomorrow to walmart, kmart, walgreens, dollar tree, family dollar, and a couple dollar generals lolll yayyyy can't wait

 

[Madame Leota]

Our WM still has school supplies out. Not even a sign of Halloween, other than the Wilton cake decorating stuff. I'm not expecting a lot this year anyway, as bad as last year was.

 

[Stephbat]

I liked Michaels especially with the abundance of 40% and 50% off coupons they offer! Dollar tree is awesome. Walgreen's has barely anything out so far but when I visited San Antonio, I saw the spider victim in a web for 19.99 and I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival in my store. Walmart has nothing at all out.

Party City is pretty stocked and they also have stuff clearance priced from last year mixed in with everything. I got a couple 2ft angel of deaths for $3.80 each. Some scene setter border for $2.00 and some scene setter stick ons for 1.00. Oh and my screaming doormat for 2.50!

 

[pdcollins6092]

I'm starting to think that they banned Halloween here where I live. I haven't seen the first store arround that has even started to put anything out yet. I just wish that Halloween was what it use to be....

 

[Bubbels]

I think in general it is a bad idea to ask the under paid , under appreciated staff off a big chain like Walmart questions that involve being enthusiastic about their work place and the extra tasks ahead of them. Well unless they enjoy Halloween as much as us!

I was excited to see new stuff come out and I am sure I have bought over $100 so far this year. But to be honest I think because im making more of the cool props this year than buying that there isnt a whole lot out there to catch my eye. Pre november sales I will probably buy one more big item and cheap odds and ends to finalize my props.

Deffinatley more excited about hunting down free pallets and cheap paint this year.

 

[Succub'Oz]

I think in general it is a bad idea to ask the under paid , under appreciated staff off a big chain like Walmart questions that involve being enthusiastic about their work place and the extra tasks ahead of them. Well unless they enjoy Halloween as much as us!

QUOTE]

At least the underpaid, under appreciated staff has a job right now. I'd be delighted to be underpaid and under appreciated right now.

 

[Tinaspaintedlady]

If any of you live near a Cracker Barrel check it out! Went yesterday and they had two tables full of great decorations. I was pleasantly surprised at their selection of childrens costumes, pretty cool. Remember though this is Cracker Barrel so it is not blood and guts.

 

[CraigInPA]

In years past, I've traditionally gone to the garden center, where the boxes are sitting there patiently awaiting the associates to retrieve and unload them, looked through the titles on the sides, and whipped out my pocket knife to slit any box open that sounded good. One year, I had an associate helping me dig through their mountain of boxes to find the case of airblown hearses their computer said was there. I've never had a problem with them asking me to stop, since I very carefully unstack, open, and re-stack everything I move. Inevitably, when I get to the check-out, the cashier says "I didn't know we had Halloween out yet!" This year, however, my local Wal-Mart has piled everything but candy up like a mountain that is 12'+ tall, unlike in previous years where they had everything on the pallet racking, so there is no "rummaging" for me.

 

[ChangedReality]

Yeah...some WalMarts do that, others (like us) put all of our extra stuff on extra trailers in the back/outside of the store with security locks on them so they're out of the way. ...for everybody who still has back to school out still y'all are probably on the same timeframe our store is on, our "module" (the little sheets of paper telling us where everything goes) won't come down til later this week and it'll probably be late next week when they start switching it out.

 

[VeeCat]

No signs at my Walmarts yet either.
Still "back to school" supplies, but they usually don't put out Halloween until
around mid September.

But last year, they had some cool things. Props that could be revamped, (and were.)
Hopefully this year will be a little better. Considering they set actually a few aisles for it here.