Halloween store, haunted house to set up in mall

The former Gottschalks at the Carson Mall will house a Halloween costume store and haunted house this fall.

The Spirit of Halloween costume store is expected to open the first week of September and will take up about half the 75,000-square-foot location. Last year, the costume shop was inside the now-demolished former Carpet Barn on South Carson Street.

"We're really excited to bring them into the mall because thousands of people look forward to shopping with them each year," said Kevin Ray, property manager of the mall.

Meanwhile, Ray said plans are still moving forward on filling the former Gottschalks - which closed last year - with a permanent retailer.

"It fits perfectly into our plan, they're going to be in there just the two months, which will allow us to focus on an additional retailer after October," he said

Gottschalk by Joe Levy, a new department store concept managed by the former CEO of Gottschalks, has expressed interest in reopening the Carson Mall location by November.

"Our plan is to help facilitate that or to have another national retailer in there," Ray said, adding, "We certainly want to put someone in there, whatever the best fit ends up being."

Michael Grimes also will open his haunted "Labyrinth" in the old Gottschalks on Oct. 8. The Labyrinth will run Fridays through Sundays.

Grimes also runs the "Dungeon" haunted house at 1809 N. Carson St., which will open Oct. 1.