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Halloween
Definitely Happy for Retailers
By Paul A. Paterson
February
1, 2003
Scare
Shop |
It
seems everybody likes dressing up, and that has turned Halloween
from a small, localized celebration for kids into a retail season
second only to Christmas in sales. In 2002, families spent almost
$7 billion, or $44 per family. According to figures published on
the CandyUSA website, the retail impact on candy
sales alone is almost $2 billion, exceeding even Valentine's Day
and Easter.
"Baby
boomers kind of rediscovered the holiday through their children,"
explained Scott Krugman, spokesman for The National Retail
Federation."There was a while where Halloween fell
out of favor because it wasn't safe. There were candy scares and
other things. We've moved beyond that. It's not just for kids; it's
for adults too."
Extreme
Halloween |
That
adult involvement includes the trend toward adult-sized costumes,
something Shari Maxwell, Owner of ExtremeHalloween, Inc.,
an online costume and accessory shop, has seen firsthand and expects
to continue.
"The
adults now remember what it was like to dress up as a kid, how much
fun it was, and there aren't the societal restrictions now that
there might have been," Maxwell suggested. "It's definitely
a really large part [of the increase in retail]. If the adults are
into it, they'll want their kids to look good and have fun, so they'll
go out and buy a good costume."
Doug
Graham, Co-owner of Scareshop.com, an online costume
supplier, and Brainstorm Studios, a graphic design
house specializing in promotions for haunted houses, thinks the
trend in everything from costumes to holiday decorations to activities
has taken on a more family atmosphere.
"Halloween
is slowly changing to more of a family event where families go out
to a haunted house, pick a pumpkin and it turns into a few hours
of entertainment," Graham said, noting decoration trends seem
to be changing in the wake of the September 11th attacks. "Everything
is swinging back to a more traditional Halloween. Everyone was pushing
the envelope to be scarier or gorier than the next guy. Now, everything
is swinging back and being a little tamer." (Cont.)
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