For more than 20 years, Halloween Club in La Mirada, CA, has been a highlight of the Southern California Halloween community. The year-round Halloween store packed its more than 25,000-square-foot warehouse with thousands of costumes, accessories, and Halloween decorations and played host to the annual Spook Show, which brought together artists, curios sellers, decor-builders, costumers, jewelers, prop-crafters, mask-makers, food vendors, and more for an afternoon celebrating all things Halloween and horror. But on Monday, the Halloween retailer announced it would be closing its doors later next month.
The news came via an email that went out to newsletter subscribers early Monday morning and on social media. Halloween Club announced they were hosting a store-closing sale with merchandise available for up to 85% off. The news shocked me, a longtime patron of Halloween Club and Spook Show attendee, and several members of the Halloween community who shared their sadness and support in comments on the retailer’s Instagram.
I spoke with Jack Bhasin, one of the principals of Halloween Club, over the phone Monday evening, and he shared that since the closure was announced, there had been an outpour of support from the community both through phone calls and in-person visits to the location throughout the day.
Despite being at the location for over 20 years, rent increases at the warehouse have outpaced business growth, forcing Halloween Club to downsize. The La Mirada warehouse will remain open until February 12 as the business looks to liquidate the location’s inventory quickly. Bhasin recommends that those interested in merchandise act fast, as the steep discounts will clear inventory quickly, noting that $100 in merchandise would be just $15 during the store closing sale. In addition to Halloween merchandise, the store is also selling store fixtures, desks, computers, tables, and more.
While it’s sad to see this staple of the Southern California Halloween community close, it’s not goodbye forever; it’s goodbye for now. Halloween Club merchandise will still be available at Aahs! & Halloween Club in Buena Park Mall, Trendy Gifts by Aahs! in the Puente Hills Mall, and Aahs! in Westwood and Torrance. Bhasin is also hopeful that following the closure, the business can reset and perhaps open again, perhaps at a smaller location in the future. But for now, Halloween Club fans and shoppers have about two weeks to say goodbye to the current site that meant so much to so many Halloween lovers.
Halloween Club has had several locations in Southern California over the years, the first of which opened in Santa Fe Springs in 1994. However, the La Mirada store, located at 14447 Firestone Boulevard, was probably the most well-known as it was easily seen from Interstate 5 and played host to all 10 of the store’s annual Spook Show events.
