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Nothing scary about Halloween sales for local retailers
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
You can dress up as a cockroach for Halloween this year, but it will cost you $105.
Industry experts doubt such price tags will faze the growing number of consumers who will spend serious money this year to dress for the one-day celebration, which once meant nothing more than creating a spooky costume out of a sheet and handing out candy.
“In the past, candy carried the biggest share of the spending, but decorations and costumes are becoming a more significant part of the holiday,” said Diana Krohn, marketing director for Halloween Express, a franchise of more than 100 stores across the nation that sells Halloween merchandise from late August through Nov. 1.
Consumers are spending more each year on the spooky celebration in general, forking out cash for Halloween items as varied as ties, socks and placemats. This year, the National Retail Federation expects Americans to spend $4.96 billion on Halloween, compared with $3.29 billion spent last year.
Halloween now ranks as the second-biggest decorating holiday of the year behind Christmas, with 67% of consumers planning to buy Halloween decor this year, the NRF reported.
“Consumers see Halloween as a seasonal celebration to bridge the gap between the end of summer and the winter holidays,” said Tracy Mullin, the federation’s president and CEO.
Locally, there are more costume shops and stores selling Halloween-related merchandise than ever before.
“I think definitely the industry has grown over the last 10 years,” said Giles Taylor, owner of Hokus Pokus costume shop in West Ashley.
Hokus Pokus stocks the $105 roach costume and a multitude of others, along with mounds of decorations, scores of wigs and piles of accessories and make-up. While the store offers costume sales and rentals year-round for theater performances, fundraisers and other events, the cash register really starts ringing in October.
“It’s kind of like our Christmas season,” Taylor said.
Taylor’s business has gathered some competition through the years, most recently from Halloween Express, which opened in North Charleston last year and this year opened a second store in Mount Pleasant.
Blake Hart, co-owner of the two stores, said she and partner Jade Austin hope to open a third shop in West Ashley next year.
“We did really well for our first year. It was pretty much ideal,” Hart said.
She has confidence that the surge in Halloween spending will continue.
“I see it growing, definitely,” Hart said. “People are spending. There are Halloween fanatics. If you walk into stores now, everyone has Halloween [items].”
NRF spokeswoman Kathy Grannis said retailers have invested in putting new and exciting Halloween merchandise on their shelves after seeing its continued success and popularity.
“Consumers are buying it and they’re buying it early,” Grannis said. “They’re spending weeks enjoying their decorations.”
The NRF’s most recent Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by Ohio-based BIGresearch, revealed that per-person spending on Halloween is increasing, with individual consumers planning to spend an average of $59.06 on the holiday this year compared with $48.48 last year.
The average person will spend $21.57 this year on a costume, but some consumers will open their wallets much more freely when it comes to dressing in disguise.
“I sold one this week that was $1,000,” said Denise Barto, co-owner of All Occasions in North Charleston, which began renting costumes in 1988.
The recent $1,000 sale was a Dracula costume with a hand-jeweled, velvet-lined cape and silk shirt, Barto said. The buyer planned to wear special colored contact lenses and fangs made by his dentist.
“This was for someone who wanted to be a winner at a contest,” Barto said.
Halloween is an adult holiday for All Occasions, which does not rent or sell children’s costumes.
“Our client comes in two distinct groups,” Barto said. “There is the young college crowd; they’re going to all the downtown bars and the fraternity and sorority parties. Then we have a 25- to 35-year-old client that is having a private party or going to a private party. They remember the good times from college but they’re not part of the bar scene any more.”
Young adults are partly responsible for growing Halloween retail sales, according to the NRF. This year, 85.3% of 18- to 24-year-olds plan to celebrate the holiday, up from 66.8% last year. More than 76% of consumers between the ages of 25 and 34 will celebrate Halloween, while 71.3% of 35- to 44-year-olds will participate, the NRF survey reported.
“Halloween has especially exploded among young adults who are celebrating with large parties and elaborate costumes, driving spending and bringing good news for retailers,” said Phil Rist, vice president of strategy for BIGresearch.
Kristi Cowart of Mount Pleasant spent part of an afternoon in early October plucking costumes from the racks at Hokus Pokus so she could try them on. The young mother of four said she and her husband will spend about $100 on matching costumes they plan to wear to an annual Halloween party given by co-workers.
“Last year we were ’60s flower children,” Cowart said.
Mark Schulz, manager of Party City in West Ashley, said sales have dramatically increased in the store since September.
During the past five years, sales for the month of October have increased about $100,000, he said.
“All the articles I’ve read said this is one of the most growing holidays and that people spend more and more,” Schulz said. “It’s great for us.”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@charlestonbusiness.com.
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