Spirit Halloween’s ability to pop up and shut down every fall has inspired countless memes online and even a recent “Saturday Night Live” skit. But the company’s strategy to fill more than 1,500 storefronts and hire about 50,000 seasonal workers across North America is no easy feat.

“We are only physically there for three months. The other nine months there is a tremendous amount of planning, preparation and background work that goes into,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween.

A key part of the strategy is convincing landlords to enter into short-term leases. The model has proven lucrative for the specialty store.

Spirit Halloween was acquired in 1999 by Spencer’s, a longtime mall chain. In 2015, Spirit Halloween generated approximately $400 million in revenue, according to Moody’s Ratings. The company estimates that the combined operations, known as Spencer Spirit Holdings, would generate $1.86 billion in 2023. Moody’s vice president of corporate finance Michael Tellis said Spirit Halloween accounts for a larger share of the company’s revenue than Spencer’s.

“The number of stores has also increased. But… it’s not a huge number. They have really been able to drive additional traffic to the store,” Tellis said.

Regular retailers generally don’t want to miss the holidays, and because they need more time to set up shop than a pop-up, they won’t sign contracts once summer is around the corner. These are the examples the company likes to respond to, says Silverstein.

Larry Link, president of New York real estate firm Level Group, said a pop-up store in New York City typically pays a 20% to 30% premium to use a space on a short-term contract. Rent arrears and property damage are two of the top concerns for landlords renting to a temporary retailer, but he said Spirit Halloween is a special case.

“They’ve essentially eliminated all the risk of a standard pop-up based on their track record, so I’m sure they’re using that fact to make an aggressive deal with landlords sitting on empty spaces,” he said. Link.

Prices for commercial real estate leases in New York City vary, but the asking price for Spirit Halloween’s Chelsea location in southwest Manhattan is $100 per square foot for the 21,300-square-foot main floor for a permanent tenant. The space also has an additional lower level floor of 13,600 square feet for less money. It is unclear how much Spirit Halloween is paying for its short-term contract.

This is considerably lower in rural areas. CNBC looked at a rental proposal from Spirit Halloween in Redding, California. According to the listing, that space typically rents for about $27,000 per month. The proposal indicates Spirit is offering $30,000 for a four-and-a-half-month contract in April.

“We don’t think about rent per square foot,” Silverstein says. “We have a lot of experience anticipating the revenue we’re going to generate, which will translate into the rent we’re worth.”

Of the storefronts the company currently occupies, Rite Aid, Tuesday Morning, Bed Bath & Beyond, Sears and CVS were the five previous tenants, according to an analysis by the University of Virginia School of Data Science. All of these retailers, except CVS, have filed for bankruptcy at some point.

Earlier this month, the company announced that it would roll out a test concept of 10 Spirit Christmas stores. Eight of those stores will be in existing Spirit Halloween locations.

Silverstein said the company is in the process of planning for the 2025 season and even “conceptualizing” its 2026 operations.

“You have to get those seeds in the ground and you will definitely be influenced by what comes out of our Halloween experience this year,” Silverstein said.

Watch the video to learn more about Spirit Halloween activities.

— CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this story