Halloween spending expected to hit record high

Oct. 15—With Halloween spending expected to reach a record high this year, Craig Friedman, owner of Taney's Costume Shop on North Washington Avenue in Scranton, feels frightened by early sales at his shop.

Consumers are projected to spend $12.2 billion, up from $10.6 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Additionally, 73% of people will participate in Halloween-related activities this year, up from 69% in 2022, per the survey.

Nearly 70% of people celebrating Halloween plan to buy costumes this year, the most in the survey's history, with total spending on outfits expected to reach a record $4.1 billion.

The survey also found 45% of consumers planned to start their Halloween shopping early.

"More Americans than ever will be reaching into their wallets to celebrate Halloween this year," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. "Consumers will be shopping early for festive décor and other related items and retailers are prepared with the inventory to help customers and their families take part in this popular and fun tradition."

However, Friedman hasn't seen many customers looking for haunting masks or dashing dresses. He's hopeful the usual latecomers will start filing into his store.

"It's been pretty slow this year," he said. "Traditionally, people do most of their buying in the last week and a half to two weeks."

Friedman fears competition from big-box stores may continue eating into his profits.

Discount stores remain the top location for 40% of customers to purchase Halloween items, followed by specialty Halloween/costume stores, 39%, and online retailers, 32%, per the survey.

"For kids' costumes, we really can't compete well other than in quality with Walmart," Friedman said. "Since COVID ended and with inflation, the cost of costumes on the wholesale level has gone up dramatically. I don't blame parents for choosing a lower-quality costume for something that is used once and then discarded."

For customers looking to splurge on an extravagant outfit, Friedman stressed Taney's has a wide selection to fit everyone's needs.

"We have much higher-quality costumes, especially in our rental department, and we rent costumes while all the other stores just sell them," he said. "We can also tailor your costume so it will be more unique."

Spending on adult costumes this year is expected to increase 18% to $2 billion, and spending on children's costumes is expected to rise 20% to $1.4 billion, per the survey. Although, some consumers may be moving away from traditional costumes in favor of current fads.

"Social media continues to grow as a source of costume inspiration for younger consumers, as more people under 25 are turning to TikTok, Pinterest and Instagram for ideas," said Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist.

Contact the writer: rtomkavage@scrantontimes.com; 570-348-9131; @rtomkavage on Twitter.

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