Halloween’s Big Business at Boo-tiques
They pop up in September like toadstools and vanish about two months later. But in that brief time, specialty Halloween stores scare up excellent profits with a brew of costumes, accessories, makeup and assorted ghoulish treasures.
Scouting locations, buying merchandise and hiring workers make running these short-lived seasonal shops a full-time business.
“We start looking at leases in April or May,” said Bruce Gold, Southern California regional manager of Spirit Halloween Superstores, which operates 100 stand-alone Halloween stores, including shops in Fountain Valley and Santa Ana. “It’s a long process.”
The success of seasonal stores “is one of the greatest indicators of how popular this holiday is and how concentrated,” said Mary Helen Sprecher of the Halloween Assn., a 4-year-old trade group based in Maryland.
Halloween sales are projected to reach nearly $6.8 billion this year, up from $5 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C.,-based trade association.
Candy sales will account for nearly $2 billion of the total, the federation reported, followed by $1.5 billion for costume sales. The rest will come from such items as decorations, party goods, pumpkin-related items and greeting cards.
Although no one can say what percentage of the Halloween boom comes from seasonal stores, increased trade-show attendance may be one indication, noted Mark Passis, vice president of Transworld Exhibits, which puts on the National Halloween, Costume and Party Show in Chicago and Las Vegas.
The March 2001 show, he said, will have 750 participating companies and 2,000 booths, compared with 675 companies and 1,700 booths this year. Gold of the Spirit chain said competition in Southern California is increasing. In addition to the stand-alone stores, chains such as Kmart, Target and Wal-Mart have increased their stock of Halloween goodies.
“The market is probably a little more diluted now,” said Gold, who oversees 11 Southern California stores. “Will our figures still be good this year? Probably. Would they be better if there wasn’t so much competition? Probably.”
Store operators agreed. Mike Lucio, manager of Santa Ana’s Spirit Halloween Superstore, said working across the street from a year-round Party City store has slowed business.
“Sometimes we have employees in costume and out on the street, but so does the other store,” Lucio said. “It’s a lot of competition. Sales aren’t quite what we expected.”
Joe Marver, Spirit founder and divisional vice president, said locating near larger chains could actually be a boon because “we feed off of their advertising.”
Marver said he knew Halloween was big business 16 years ago, when he had a small women’s apparel store in Castro Valley, across the street from a year-round costume shop.
“I used to drool at the business he’d do at Halloween,” said Marver.
When the costume shop closed, he decided to fill the niche the next Halloween. He scraped together $18,000 from family and friends to buy merchandise and in mid-September moved his women’s clothing to make way for Halloween gear.
“It was the best October I ever had,” he said. The next year, when he opened a Halloween store in a local mall, “They laughed at me and put me in a corner hidden behind an old restaurant. When I did $100,000 in 30 days, they were astounded.”
The biggest challenge for seasonal shops is finding short-term store rentals, especially when proprietors have to start looking early in the year. Landlords often won’t commit to a short-term rental in case a longer lease comes in.
A good location is vital, operators agreed. Since sites usually change from year to year, stores must be highly visible.
Good managers are important, because Halloween is such an intense holiday with a lot of business during a short time, Gold said. Managers must be adept at juggling staff during the hectic, long, 10 days before Halloween. Part-time, seasonal employees, most earning minimum wage, are often recruited from local high schools and colleges.
This is where experience counts, agreed Albert Hassinger, manager at Spirit’s store in the Fallbrook Mall. Hassinger, whose other seasonal jobs include working renaissance fairs and a Hickory Farms Christmas store, said employees need to know how to help customers put together the whole look.
“If they want to be a vampire, you need to help them find fangs, blood, a cape . . . “ he explained. “You might even need to know which makeup will cover eyebrows or how to make fake blood.”
Most stores have half-price sales on Nov. 1, then workers shut the store, take inventory, pack and ship leftovers to warehouses, do any building repair and are out by Nov. 15, Gold said.
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Times correspondent Dana Bushee contributed to this report.
