National Retail Federation
NEWS RELEASE
THE VOICE OF RETAIL WORLDWIDE
Liberty Place, 325 7th Street, NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kathy Grannis or Scott Krugman (202)783-7971
grannisk@nrf.com or krugmans@nrf.com
Halloween Sales Leave Retailers With Nothing to Fear
Spending Surpasses $5 Billion, Costumes and Candy
Still Reign
Washington, DC, September 24, 2007 – Ghosts and goblins won’t
be frightening consumers this year; in fact, many consumers welcome the holiday.
With the year’s spookiest holiday approaching, consumers are looking to
celebrate. According to the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer
Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, consumers are expected
to spend more on Halloween this year than last year, with the average person
planning to spend $64.82 on the holiday compared to $59.06 one year ago. Total
Halloween spending for 2007 is estimated to reach $5.07 billion.*
“Halloween should give retailers a nice boost in sales as they open the crucial
fourth quarter.” said Tracy Mullin, President and CEO of NRF. “This is the time
of year that retailers are at their best, stocking the shelves with new and
innovative product to help consumers celebrate in style.”
Halloween party-goers are bobbing for more than just apples. They’ll also be on
the lookout for candy, costumes and decorations. The average person will spend
$23.33 on Halloween costumes (including children’s and pet’s costumes), though
young adults will spend far more. In fact, according to the survey, 18-24
year-olds plan to be the most festive, spending $34.06 on costumes, nearly twice
as much as they plan to spend on candy ($19.65).
According to the survey, average spending will rise in all categories, including
candy ($19.84), decorations ($17.73) and greeting cards ($3.92).
“Halloween is often a time for consumers to set aside their real concerns to
focus on the imaginary,” said Phil Rist, Vice President of Strategy for
BIGresearch. “As news about the economy floods the airwaves, many Americans want
to take a break from reality to have a bit of fun.”
The most popular activity on Halloween this year will be handing out candy, with
nearly three-fourths (72.9%) of consumers planning to stay home to hand out
treats. Other popular activities will include pumpkin carving (43.3%),
decorating a home and/or yard (47.8%), and throwing or attending a Halloween
party (28.3%).
The NRF 2007 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to
gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the Halloween season. The
survey, which polled 8,877 consumers, was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from
September 4-11. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0
percent.
BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique
consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes.
BIGresearch’s syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the
pulse of more than 7,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique
insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace.
www.bigresearch.com
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade
association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of
distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet,
independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as
the industry’s key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents
an industry with more than 1.4 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 23
million employees – about one in five American workers – and 2006 sales of $4.7
trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100
state, national and international retail associations.
www.nrf.com
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NRF will release a list of the top children’s, top pets, and top adults’
Halloween costumes this Wednesday, September 26.
* Figure indicates extrapolation of total U.S. population of adults 18+