September 2010 Issue

Here’s some good news for a change – The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects consumer spending on Halloween to reach $5.8 billion, up from $4.75 billion last year.

Since Halloween is second only to the winter holidays in terms of decorating the home or yard, home décor, tabletop and specialty food retailers should rejoice. For the record, NRF states that half of all consumers decorate for Halloween.

NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay thinks that Halloween offers consumers “a welcome break from reality, allowing many Americans to escape from the stress the economy has put on their family and incomes.” He also points out that Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, so people have an entire weekend to celebrate.

I’m just hoping that the predicted increase in spending at Halloween is a harbinger of good news for the winter holiday season and fourth quarter sales.

Holiday forecasts released to date are cautious. I’m hoping that NRF forecasts, due next month, are more optimistic. In anticipation, we’ve put together a great set of holiday-related products in this issue. We’ve also included coffee and tea items that are always popular for gifts and entertaining.

By the way, NRF bases their spending forecast on the 2010 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, a detailed consumer survey conducted by BIGresearch for NRF. According to this year’s survey, the highest percentage of people in the survey’s history will dress up in costumes (40.1%, up from 33.4% in 2009). Nearly 11.5% of consumers will embarrass their pets by dressing them in costume. Mr. Shay may be on the right track – apparently we do need to escape.