Spirit Halloween Ate Trump's 145% Tariffs and Still Had Its Best Year Ever

Spirit Halloween took the full hit of a 145% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods in April 2025, refused to raise prices, and still delivered the best year in the company's history.

President Donald Trump announced the tariffs on April 2, 2025, a date he declared "Liberation Day" from the White House Rose Garden. The levies covered imports from nearly every country on earth, and Trump promised "jobs and factories will come roaring back" to the U.S.

Within days, after China retaliated, the U.S. tariff on Chinese goods rose to 145%. The increase landed just as Spirit Halloween's goods began shipping from Asia.

"This was going to put us out of business," Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit's parent company Spencer Spirit Holdings, told Fortune.

How bad was it compared to COVID?

Silverstein said the tariffs were worse for the company than the pandemic. In March 2020, every Spencer's store closed just as Spirit was choosing locations and signing leases for the fall season. The company decided to push ahead with Halloween anyway and opened all of its stores that September.

Despite the disruption, the business has more than doubled since 2019, he said.

The tariffs cut deeper because they hit mid-shipping-season. "They were implemented immediately without giving business the opportunity to really react in any kind of logical way," Silverstein said. "We were being ripped around like a yo-yo."

About 75% to 80% of Spirit's merchandise is designed and sourced by the company itself, mostly in Asia. The goods move on a tight schedule through distribution centers and 63 third-party logistics sites before reaching more than 1,550 stores — a process Silverstein says runs all year.

"It skyrocketed right in the middle of our shipping season," he said. "Every day is critical to us."

What did the war room do?

Spirit had to stop the ships. A group of executives set up what Silverstein called a war room.

"You start burning the furniture," he said. "You have to preserve your cash."

The company suspended all capital spending and cut costs across its teams. Silverstein called a meeting of the entire company.

"I said, look, this is going to be really rough seas, but this is what we've got to do to get from here to there," he said.

On May 12, the U.S. and China agreed to cut the tariff to 30%. Spirit restarted shipping, but its goods were six weeks behind schedule. Silverstein restored everything the company had cut.

Why didn't Spirit raise prices?

The retailer chose not to pass the tariff costs on to shoppers.

"I thought it would be irresponsible, if nothing else," Silverstein said. "All we do is Halloween. Without knowing what the outcome would be, that could be really dangerous. And so we ate the tariffs."

To make up for lost time, Spirit hired more workers, not fewer. Stores opened about two to two and a half weeks late — and even then, Silverstein said, it was the company's best year ever.

What is Spirit of Children?

Silverstein said critics see a chain that rents empty stores for a few weeks as opportunists.

"They're carpetbaggers," he said, describing that view. "They just come in, they occupy and then they go away, and they take their circus on the road. We don't think of ourselves that way at all."

In 2006, three years after he became CEO, Spirit threw a Halloween party for children in a hospital, with costumes, music and art supplies. It started with eight hospitals in New Jersey, where the company is still based.

"These kids lit up," he said. "They got into their Spider-Man costume, and they were Spider-Man."

The company later added fundraising at the register, letting shoppers round up their purchase or add a fixed donation. All of the money goes to the child life department at a local hospital, paying for staff, playrooms and therapy beyond medical care.

Spirit of Children has raised more than $164 million since 2006, at an average of about $1.25 per donation, Silverstein said.

"This is a story of microphilanthropy," he said. "You take millions and millions of people, and you give a little amount each."

Silverstein said the program is one reason seasonal workers keep coming back.

"When I speak to associates, why are you coming back to Spirit? Because I love Spirit of Children so much," he said.

This year marks the program's 20th anniversary, and Spirit aims to raise $20 million.

"Every year it grows," Silverstein said. "I think we're going to get there."

With the tariff now at 30% and shipping schedules back on track, Spirit enters its next season with a proven playbook for absorbing trade shocks — one built on frozen spending, absorbed costs and a charity operation it says keeps its seasonal workforce loyal.