Sidney Maxwell Public Relations

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The Plain Dealer
Scaring up big profits
Friday, October 06, 2006

No tricks: Halloween's become a real treat for retailers
Halloween used to be a quaint tradition celebrated by pint-sized cowboys and fairies who went door-to-door begging for sweets.

Not anymore.

Halloween today is big business, with more and more retailers getting into the spirit to scare up pre-Christmas profits.

The National Retail Federation estimates Americans will spend a frightening $3.3 billion on Halloween this year, 5 percent more than we spent last year.

Halloween now ranks as the second-biggest holiday for decorations, after Christmas, and the sixth-largest holiday in terms of sheer spending.

That doesn't surprise Barbara Brown, owner of John's Fun House & Costume Inc. on East 185th Street in Cleveland, where even the cash register is shrouded by cobwebs, rats and spiders. She's seen people spend hundreds of dollars putting together a single elaborate costume.
John's Fun House, founded 38 years ago by Brown's parents, John and Ann Copic, specializes in Halloween. It's open seven days a week during October.

The 4,000-square-foot store not only devotes well over half its floor space to costumes, wigs, beards, masks, makeup, props, prosthetics and accessories; it also keeps everything in stock year round for costume parties and obscure holidays like "International Talk Like a Pirate Day."
When the store opened, nobody else took Halloween seriously, Brown said. "Now everybody from Walgreens to Wal-Mart does Halloween. Even Tops down the street sells costumes."

For many retailers, Halloween is "the big kickoff to the fourth quarter," said Tracy Mullin, president and chief executive of the National Retail Federation in Washington, D.C.

"Consumers are pulling out all the stops when it comes to decorating their homes and yards and wearing elaborate costumes, making Halloween an important holiday for retailers."

Michael Shmarak, principal of Sidney Maxwell Public Relations in Chicago, says Halloween is a barometer for the holiday shopping season.

"If people are willing to spend beyond the basics for Halloween, they are going to follow the same short-term spending habits on holiday gift items," he said.

That's why retailers from Williams-Sonoma to FTD florists are heavily promoting their orange-and-black merchandise. Marshalls, the brand-name discounter, this year started selling Halloween costumes and decorations.

Jeff Coppens, a seasonal retail consultant and president and designer of Living Fiction Costumes Inc. in San Diego, says Halloween endures for two reasons.

"Most parents are willing to purchase a Halloween costume for their children to go trick-or-treating, regardless of their financial position or changes in the economy," he said.
But the real growth of Halloween stems from its increasing popularity among adults.
"With society becoming more 'politically correct,' and overly protective in a more threatening world, Halloween is a safe haven for adults to let loose and enjoy themselves," he said. "Unlike company Christmas parties, where behavior can affect job security, Halloween offers an excuse to be sexy, outrageous and politically incorrect."

Brooklyn, Ohio-based American Greetings Corp. now offers nearly 1,000 cards for Halloween, about one-fifth of them designed to appeal to young adults, spokeswoman Megan Ferington said. "Adults are reclaiming Halloween as their own holiday, not just for trick-or-treating."
More than two-thirds of those ages 18 to 34 celebrate Halloween, and those who do tend to go all out.

While the average consumer might spend $48 on Halloween, the average 18- to 34-year-old spends more than $60.

Women 21 to 35 are especially good customers, said Brown of John's Fun House. Students attending out-of-town colleges regularly buy their costumes and accessories before heading to campus in the fall.

Party store chains like Party City, which has four stores in Northeast Ohio, say Halloween is their biggest single holiday. Party City stocks everything from voice-activated lawn decorations to costumes for cats and dogs.

While the fierce competition from national chains and online retailers has taken a vampire's bite out of independent businesses like John's Fun House, Brown says she relies on personal service and the uniqueness of her costumes to keep shoppers coming back.

Whether it's 6-inch stilettos and a sexy French maid's outfit or oversize scarlet bloomers and fake buttocks, "we make sure you put it on," Brown said. "Because if you won't wear it out of the dressing room, you won't wear it to the party."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jcho@plaind.com, 216-999-5069

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