Article published October 21, 2009
SCARY PREDICTIONS
Recession chills Halloween
Local retailers bracing for a decrease in sales
Sales assistant Andy Jones, in necktie, answers a customer's question about costumes in the Party City store on Monroe Street.
(
THE BLADE/LORI KING
)
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By JON CHAVEZ
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
Scary sales forecasts are lurking for retailers this Halloween, with the economy apparently having frightened many consumers into slashing their spending.
"I was spending $500 every year, and this year, I probably only spent $60," said Chuck Richards, a Lambertville resident known for his large, spooky front-yard Halloween displays.
Retailers "are giving great deals, but I can't afford to put anything back into the economy. I work construction and I was laid off for seven months," Mr. Richards said.
"Halloween's my favorite. Nothing's going to stop me from celebrating it. Next year, I plan on having more out there, but this year … you make do with what you've got."
The National Retail Federation projects overall Halloween spending nationwide will reach $4.75 billion this year, down 17 percent from last year, with the average consumer cutting expenses to $56 from last year's $67.
"We're hearing positive things from our retailers, even though the consumers are still holding back," said Kathy Grannis, a retail federation spokesman."Halloween is one of those holidays, especially when it falls on a weekend, that last-minute plans can definitely come up. There could be a nice surprise in store traffic on Saturday morning," she said. "But we're still not going to see consumers splurging."
Toledo-area supermarket owner Walt Churchill said sales of Halloween candy, pumpkins, and other related items have been "muted" so far. "My feeling is: with the economy, people have taken their eyes off Halloween," he said.
Mr. Churchill, who operates
Walt Churchill's Supermarket stores in Perrysburg and Maumee, said signs of consumer frugality appeared Saturday on Sweetest Day, when many skimped on candy and flowers.
"I wouldn't say we were stuck with a lot, but we certainly had more flowers left over than we needed," he said.
Retail analyst Britt Beemer, president of America's Research Group, said his surveys show Halloween spending will be down in a range of 5 to 15 percent, excluding candy.
"Really, it's hard to predict what will happen, though, because there's no great way to do it. When you ask people what they will spend, they'll say they normally spend $65 and that they're only spending $60 this year," he said. "But you can't predict what they'll do as it gets closer to Halloween."
Party City Corp., of Rockaway, N.J., which operates a store on Monroe Street in Toledo, has many Halloween items. "For customers that might feel they're facing economic hard times or are concerned about the economy, we have costume items … as low as $9," said Bill Furtkevic, Party City's vice president of marketing.
Gregg Kerns, president of Costume Holiday House, which has stores in Fremont and Toledo, said he saw pessimistic Halloween forecasts for spending and decided to be proactive. He began running advertisements in mid-September - far earlier than normal - and set on a plan to discount items.
"We've got more coupons out there than we've ever had in the past," he said. "So far we've been very steady saleswise compared to last year and we're even up a little. We knew we had to advertise more this year."
Contact Jon Chavez at:
jchavez@theblade.com
or 419-724-6128.
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