Had it with the hot weather?
Here is something to think about. Halloween is breaking out all over so cool, crisp days can’t be too far behind.
Or maybe not.
Even though it’s mid-August, Halloween costume shops are opening and candy is already on store shelves.
Towson University Economist Daraius Irani said Halloween is our second most commercialized holiday with around $12 billion in sales.
Christmas is number one, of course. Halloween beats out Valentine’s Day for the number two spot.
Irani said Halloween is the next big commercialized holiday after July 4, so all that stuff is out now to fill a late summer marketing lull.
“It has all the ramp up speed,” Irani said.
Maggie May, (yes her mother who loves Rod Stewart named her for the song), is a district sales manager for Spirit Halloween. She was recently unloading a truck with boxes filled with costumes for the company’s Joppa Road store in Towson which is scheduled to open this week.
“We started almost a month ago, starting to look for locations, other stores,” May said. “Halloween's a year long thing in my opinion.”
A spokesperson for Giant supermarket said in a statement, “Halloween is an important holiday for our community and is the number one holiday for candy sales. Due to customer demands and current trends, customers start looking for Halloween candy this time of year.”
Irani said even though people are having fewer children, costume sales are being fueled in part by people dressing up their pets.
Irani said, “More and more people are treating their pets as part of the family and not something you keep outside in the dog house.”
Since COVID, Irani said there’s been a 40 percent increase in the purchase of pet costumes.
Not to mention Halloween cards, props and animatronic outdoor decorations.
“Americans, we always take everything to 11,” Irani said.
