A boo-tiful business: Halloween consumer spending second-highest following Christmas

Jeff Broddle | Cadillac News Troy Butters laughs as Bailey LaBar tries on a foam Big Wig Hat at the Halloween Superstore. Halloween spending is the second highest of the holidays Ñ with Christmas in the lead.

Almost half of Americans are planning to decorate their homes for Halloween this year, but few will match the finesse Dan and Evelyn Howe bring to the task.

Halloween is the second-biggest decorating holiday of the year after Christmas, according to the National Retail Federation. Whether it’s ghouls or flying bats or smoking cauldrons, consumers are opening their pocketbooks to outfit their home for the holiday.

To get into the spirit, the Howes spent $400 this year on outdoor decorations. Animated lawn pumpkins, flying ghosts and a graveyard along the side of the house are only a few of the creatures and features set to spook and charm trick-or-treaters.

“It started with Christmas and it (the decorating bug) spread from there,” Dan said. “Then, it got really big when we had our granddaughter up here.”

The couple spent four to six hours daily for one week to erect the display. While they don’t decorate the interior of their home for Halloween, they dish out fun in other ways. Dan will be in costume on the big night with 20 bags of candy on hand to distribute.

“I usually get accused of handing out too much,” he laughed.

The couple would like to see the home decorating trend sweep the neighborhood.

“We do it for the community,” he said. “We hope the rest of the block will catch on.”

CADILLAC — “It’s a chance to be a kid again.” That’s how John Pugno explains the growing popularity of adult involvement in celebrating Halloween.

Two-thirds of consumers will celebrate the holiday this year. The 40-something Pugno made a stop at the Halloween Superstore in Cadillac during a break from work to buy clown noses and theatrical make-up. He said he gets together with childhood friends every Halloween to party.

Pugno’s tab for the costume items was $42, a bit under the average of $59 consumers will spend this year, according the National Retail Federation. NRF’s figure is matching sales at Cadillac’s Halloween Superstore where assistant manager Lisa Alexander said per customer sales are typically between $40 and $60.

Opened between Labor Day and Nov. 2, the Halloween specialty shop sells costumes, wigs, masks and decor. Riding the trend for greater spending, the store returned larger than in past years, according to Alexander. From floor to ceiling, it’s packed with rubber rats, witches hats, skeletons and thousands of other items.

“I had a customer come in and spend a couple hundred dollars. I asked him if they celebrate Christmas like this. He said at Christmas he gives his wife $50 to spend at the dollar store,” Alexander recounted.

One of the most popular selling items is theatrical lenses. Worn like vision-improving contact lenses, they create a ghoulish appearance to the eyeball, or cat eyes or other looks. The lenses check-out at $79. Other popular sellers are adult costumes, vampire fangs, and rats-in-a-trap, Alexander said.

For some, the Halloween store is a little too spooky.

“Some are scared, turn around and leave, especially if our fog machine is on,” Alexander said.

Gayla Kinney visited the store to buy a costume for her granddaughter.

“I can’t believe the stuff they have here. It’s overwhelming,” she said. “When I was a kid, you made your costume with what you had. Now, you can buy anything.”

What’s the most popular costumes purchased from the Cadillac store? For women, it’s the nurse costume, according to Alexander. Girls still go for the princess and fairy costumes and boys want to try on being Spiderman. Men opt for masks and wigs.

The price range for costumes and scary items is as broad as the selection. Costumes start at about $15. Shelves also hold inexpensive rubber bats as well as talking life-sized mummies and ghouls costing about $200.

Throw in the cost of parties and candy and the holiday tab for trick-or-treat fun in this country is expected to total $4.96 billion. Before all those Snickers are eaten, retailers will be ushering in the Christmas buying season.

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