Code Orange?

**UPDATED LIST 7/14/24 WITH ADDITIONAL STORES WITH CONFIRMED SPOOKY GOODIES!**

For the past few weeks on social media I've been seeing videos and pictures pop up with CODE ORANGE in the caption, and I've been anxiously waiting for a day off so I could go investigate for myself. Obviously I'm not alone in my very impatient wait for Halloween goodies to start hitting the shelves, which is why this hashtag began in the first place, so I know many of you have been seeing the same thing and wondering if it's worth a trip out to the stores to take advantage of Summerween yourself. Here's what I found.

Quick editor's note: I did my shopping today in the Richmond, Virginia area, so your mileage my vary depending on where you live and what shops you have nearby. I'm hoping to showcase more local spooky shopping the next few months as we inch closer to Halloween, so stay tuned, and please let me know when things pop up in stores near you!

The first stop on our spooky Saturday shopping spree was Michael's. I'd seen several posts about the Nevermore collection there, which is Edgar Allan Poe themed, and I was especially excited to get my hands on this as not only is my dude Eddie Poe spooky as hell, but he also is a Richmond legend. By the time I made it to Michael's for today's trip, whatever remained of this collection was on sale, and it was slim pickins. That being said, it looks like you can still find a lot of those items on the website, so go snag some before the sale ends and the items are sold out!

Next up was Five Below. Our Spooky Sibling DaiSha’ Tran of Spooky Girls Coven had posted a Code Orange for some summerween themed items and I was happy to find that not only was the skull pool float still available, but there were a few other spooky items to be had- a ghost emoji in a pack of pool splashers and an IT earbud case. We didn't see the skeleton water bottle or pool towel but maybe you'll have better luck in your store.

Feeling a little discouraged, we stopped for lunch and headed across town to Joann Fabric and Crafts, and we went through the whole store, finding nothing, until the very last aisle, and that's when we hit the jackpot. Here I got my first item of the day (and the season)- a black skull with a beautiful, shimmery silver snake wound around it. There were dozens of items on this row, and much of it seemed "eclipse" themed, which I think is why a lot of it was on sale, but so much of it is year-round spooky decor. Needless to say I had a more optimistic outlook after we found this little treasure trove at Joann's.

We visited two other stores after that, and unfortunately struck out at both places- At Home and HomeGoods. Both of these had Code Orange posts about them online but we didn't see anything remotely Halloween-y or even Halloween-adjacent. Richmond is a decent sized city but maybe we're just not in the right market for them to roll out that sort of stuff as early as in some other areas that have already gotten the good stuff.

Once I got home and put my lovely new decor on my bookshelf, I got online to see what I could find, so before I wrap up I wanted to share with you a few places to hit up online if you're ready to ring in Summerween, Hot Ghoul Summer, or just celebrate Spooky Season all year long.

• First up- Michael's- michaels.com

  • Nevermore Collection: https://www.michaels.com/shop/holidays-occasions/summer/summer-decor-collections/nevermore - includes mirrors, wall decor, decorative bottles, trays, wreaths, and tabletop decor

• Five Below- fivebelow.com

  • You can find tshirts, squishmallows, nail wraps, a skeleton tumbler, dog toys and more- I just did a search for "skeletons" and was pleasantly surprised :)

• Joann Fabric and Crafts- joann.com

  • If you search "Halloween" you can find most of the items that I found in the store and a plethora more, including a cute tote bag that says "Big Witch Energy". Honestly, I love everything both in-store and online, and this may break my bank this year. But it's stuff you can display all year so... worth it?

• At Home- athome.com

  • When I visited the website I thought "dang, these guys are SERIOUS"- they even have a SPOOKY SZN IS COMING image at the top of the page when I searched for Halloween. But all the items that come up are just standard houseware items that happen to be black or orange. Judging by some of the other Code Orange posts and the website, my guess is we should be on alert though- I bet they've got their stuff hitting the shelves sooner than later.

• HomeGoods- homegoods.com

  • Last but not least was HomeGoods, and unfortunately you can't shop their stores online, so my advice on this one is just to pop in now and then when you're able and scan the shelves for a good spooky find. And obviously let us know as soon as you find something!

What stores have you found, either in person or online, that have started blessing us with their witchiest, scariest, spookiest seasonal goods? Let us know in the comments so we can get to shopping! Until then, as always, keep it spooky sibs! xo

UPDATED 7/14/24

Hi Pals! As of today, here are the stores that have had confirmed sightings at locations throughout the country. Note- tried to stick to national chains here, but please consider shopping locally and checking out smaller retailers both online and in your neck of the woods. :)

• Michaels

• Five Below

• Joann

• At Home

• HomeGoods

• Marshalls

• Cracker Barrel

• Bath & Body Works

• Hallmark

• TJ Maxx

• Lowes

• Home Depot

What stores near you have started dropping some little Halloween goodies on the shelves? Comment below!