National Retail Federation Expects Record $10.6 Billion in Spending on This Year’s Holiday
Specialty Halloween stores will be gobbling up a lot of sales this year, according to the National Retail Federation as it predicts a record $10.6 billion in spending overall for the holiday.
Halloween shops and costume stores, like the ubiquitous Spirit Halloween pop-ups, ranked No. 1 in terms of where consumers said they planned to purchase items for the Oct. 31 celebration, a 2022 NRF Halloween survey found. For the 18-to-24 demographic, 50% plan to head to the Halloween specialty shops, according to the survey, and 36% of adults 18 and older planned to patronize those stores.
For the younger set, shopping online was the second top choice for buying Halloween merchandise, with 43% saying that’s where they would find items such as their masks, ghoulish get-ups and merchandise. But only 31% of adults 18-plus reported they would seek out Halloween gear online, according to the NRF.
Those adults much more preferred to go to discount stores than shop online, with 40% choosing the brick-and-mortar option. But only 37% of the 18-to-24-year-olds said they would shop at discounters.
Compared to older consumers, the younger demographic voiced more of a preference to purchasing Halloween goods at clothing stores, with 27% saying they would do so. By contrast, only 13% of adults 18 and older planned to pick up Halloween gear at apparel retailers.
And while 28% of adults planned to buy Halloween items in grocery stores and supermarkets, only 21% of those 18 to 24 did.
The next most popular places for Halloween shopping were thrift stores and retail shops; home decor stores; local and small businesses; and crafts or fabric stores.
CoStar.com, Linda Moss and Nicole Shih