Spirit Halloween is moving into two vacant storefronts along Canton's Ford Road corridor this fall, filling spaces that have sat empty on one of the area's busiest retail strips.

The seasonal retailer will operate stores at 42595 Ford Road, in the former Value City Furniture building, and at 40164 Ford Road, next to the Tile Shop, according to a Patch list published Tuesday, Sept. 15. Both Canton locations are part of a 44-store rollout across 41 Michigan communities.

Both are seasonal.

The Value City Furniture space had been identified as one of Ford Road's most prominent vacancies in a June Hometown Life report on the corridor's development. The Canton Downtown Development Authority shopping district logged roughly 10.7 million visits over 12 months, according to that report.

Canton Township Supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak said in the June report that outsiders come to Ford Road specifically to shop, while Canton residents say they never need to leave. "Everything's on Ford Road," Graham-Hudak said.

Jordan Jabbori, senior director at CMP Real Estate Group, described the corridor's appeal in the same June report. "Ford Road is one of the strongest retail corridors in the state," Jabbori said. "You've got people coming from out of state literally to come to this IKEA. It is a regional pull."

Spirit Halloween operates more than 1,500 stores nationwide, according to the company. The retailer hired for more than 52,000 positions in June in preparation for what it called a "record-breaking" year, ABC27 reported.

CEO Steven Silverstein said visiting a Spirit store has become an annual tradition for many fans and marks the unofficial start of the Halloween season.

Most Spirit Halloween locations pop up each year in empty retail spaces and close after the holiday. Nearby stores opening this season include one in Westland at 8300 N. Wayne Road, in the former Value City Furniture building, and one in Livonia at 37552 W. Six Mile Road, in the former Eddie Bauer space.

Specific opening dates and hours for the Canton stores were not listed in the Patch report. Shoppers can check availability at spirithalloween.com.