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Sherry Kennedy, manager of Big Lots at 4482 N. Rancho Drive, stocks candy Thursday on the store shelves. Photo by Amy Beth Bennett. Assistant manager Erika Karlson pushes a cart through the Halloween section while restocking at Big Lots. Photo by Amy Beth Bennett.

Saturday, October 27, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Halloween budgets up this year

Survey: Consumers plan to spend an average of $61 on spooky holiday

Jane Williams was recently laid off from her job as a banquet server on the Strip, but she still plans to spend $60 on Halloween this year, about the same as last year.

"It's been really difficult. We've cut back on spending everywhere. But I'm truly not concerned," Williams said as she shopped Thursday for her daughter's costume at Big Lots, formerly MacFrugal's, at 4482 N. Rancho Drive.

Three-quarters of U.S. consumers are planning to shop for Halloween this year, and they expect to spend substantially more than they did last year -- $61 on average, compared with $43 in 2000, according to a survey by the International Mass Retail Association.

Their favorite Halloween shopping destinations will be mass retail stores, reflecting their keen awareness of finding a good value during these uncertain economic times.

Shelly Burns was at Big Lots looking for cat tails and ears for her daughter, and said she saw "some pretty cheap stuff" at Savers, another discount store at Rancho and Cheyenne Avenue.

Burns estimated her Halloween budget at $25, which included purchasing stencils from Factory2U to decorate her pumpkin, a Halloween welcome mat, a headband with nails sticking out of it and candy.

"I printed out a lot of decorations off the Internet and that was free, except for the ink," she said.

Emma Achziger, manager of Carlton Cards in the Meadows mall, said business is definitely slower than it was last Halloween, probably because of the general downturn in the U.S. economy following last month's terrorist attacks.

"It's affecting sales, but I don't think people are letting it get them down," she said. "They are coming in and they're spending."

Part of it could also be that the mall isn't having as many activities as last year, including trick-or-treat night for the kids on Halloween, because of security concerns. Also, there wasn't room in the mall this year for Halloween Experience, a seasonal store that sells costumes, makeup and accessories for the ghoulish celebration.

The retail association's 2001 Halloween shopping survey asked 1,000 consumers during the weekend of Oct. 12-14 where they plan to do the majority of their Halloween shopping and how much they plan to spend. Not surprisingly, those with children plan to spend more ($67) than those without children in their households ($56).

"Americans are looking for a reason to have some fun in these trying times," said Robert Verdisco, president of IMRA. "Halloween this year gives them an opportunity to reclaim a sense of normalcy by celebrating in a festive and safe way with their families, friends and neighbors. This gives us all an excellent way to counter the real fears that the terrorists have tried to put in our hearts."

More than four in 10 Halloween shoppers (43 percent) will do most of their shopping at discount department stores, up from 36 percent in 2000.

Other types of stores lagged considerably behind mass retailers as the preferred Halloween shopping destination. Just 13 percent of Americans will do the majority of their Halloween shopping at supermarkets, followed by specialty stores (4 percent), drug stores (4 percent), department stores (2 percent), the Internet (1 percent), category dominant stores (1 percent) or some other type of store (5 percent).

"We hope that this survey serves as a bellwether of better times to come," Verdisco said. "Mass retailers remain optimistic that our upcoming holiday season will help bring a turnaround in the economy that will defy the effects of these terrorists' attacks on our nation. It's time we showed them that our economy can and will regain its strength."

Although consumer spending in the Western United States remained at high levels in recent months, growth in retail spending had slowed substantially even prior to Sept. 11, according to an October report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Data from the West region indicate that growth in nominal retail sales fell from a growth rate of about 10 percent in the first quarter of 2000 to about 2.5 percent in the first quarter this year. The pace picked up again in the second quarter, the report said.

However, the September report on consumer confidence, which is based on survey information mostly collected prior to the terrorist attacks, was very negative, with one-month drops of 14 percent in the national index and 9 percent to 10 percent in the Mountain and Pacific states' indices.

"Thus, despite evidence of solid consumer spending in the (West) during the summer months, the prospects looking forward for consumer spending were downbeat even prior to the terrorist attacks," stated Rob Valletta of the bank's economic research department.