Halloween Scares Up Some Sales

Although Halloween sales have risen nicely these past few years, the selling square footage of outlets with Halloween merchandise may be rising sharply, too. Halloween displays in drug stores seem to be getting larger and larger, and there are more "pop-up" temporary Halloween stores in otherwise empty storefronts. Luckily for Halloween retailers, the growth in new party store locations has tailed off considerably. Now that Party America, Factory Card Outlet, and Party City are all controlled by the same ownership, the growth in new party store locations, and any increased competition, is likely to remain muted. The rollup strategy in the party store category and the department store category (Macy's) might be worthwhile in several other retail categories, like electronics.

Mark Lilien, Consultant, Retail Technology Group

Halloween continues to be a growth opportunity for many retailers. The time between "Back to School" and Thanksgiving represents a void in many retail merchandising schedules. Halloween is a fun and colorful holiday with products like candy like are easily merchandised by many types of retailers. Also, in our work for the candy industry, we are abreast of the consumer trends. Halloween, which was once a kids holiday, has become more of a family and neighborhood event, lending itself to broader merchandising opportunities.

Raymond D. Jones, Managing Director, Dechert-Hampe & Co.

What I find interesting is the extension of Halloween marketing to seemingly unrelated categories and the growth opportunities this represents. For instance, in a walk down your local CVS seasonal aisle you will encounter ChapStick. Not some special Halloween ChapStick, but regular ChapStick merchandised in a Halloween graphic laced corrugate display. So does CVS think that ChapStick is a giveaway to wealthy trick or treaters at $1.69 per stick? Probably not. My guess would be that this is more an attempt to capitalize on the impulsiveness of a ChapStick purchase. Which begs the question, what impulse items are next to help bolster Halloween sales? Halloween eye glass repair kits perhaps?

Eric Togneri, Principal, VP CPG Solutions, CPG CatNet

I had a fascinating conversation about Halloween the other day with a high-volume seasonal buyer. For all of the opportunities that Halloween presents, the pitfalls are plentiful. Keeping things scary without getting sacrilegious, targeting edgier products to the appropriate markets, knowing when enough is enough in terms of inventory, flammability, injury risk...whew! Makes most other categories seem like a walk in the park by comparison. P.S. Skeletons are all the rage.

Carol Spieckerman, President, newmarketbuilders

Supposedly this annual observance (it's not really a holiday) is the second-most popular party date of the year, behind only New Year’s Eve. To me, that implies heavier adult participation than little kids trick-or-treating their way through neighborhoods. Perhaps that's the golden key for retailers. A brief, semi-related, rather interesting story: Some years ago my wife was shopping near the end of October and encountered a mother accompanied by two costumed, rambunctious kids. The mother was oblivious to her kids' excited perambulations through the store until my wife remarked, "What a cute Satan costume." That's when the mother literally screamed, "It's a devil costume!" Apparently my wife discovered what was required to get the mother's attention.

M. Jericho Banks PhD, President, CEO, Forensic Marketing LLC