It may not be crucial to the smooth operating of Canada's economy, but Halloween has become big business.
The Retail Council of Canada estimates that by the time the last of the pumpkins hits the compost heap in 2006, Canadians will have spent $1.5 billion on treats, costumes, pumpkins and decorations as they mark the scariest night of the year.
That's about $60 for each of the 72 per cent of Canadians who plan to take part in at least one Halloween-related activity, according to a poll conducted for the council. That's up three bucks a head from 2005.
Canada's biggest Halloween spenders are in British Columbia. They'll drop an average of $65 each during the Halloween season. Quebecers will fork out the least at $54. Candy and treats will eat up the bulk of most people's spending at a national average of $29, according to the council. Men will spend a little more ($32) than will women ($27).
A similar study in the United States found that Halloween is the sixth biggest-spending holiday after:
- Winter holidays ($457.4 billion US).
- Valentine's Day ($13.70 billion US).
- Easter ($12.63 billion US).
- Mother's Day ($13.80 billion US).
- Father's Day ($9.01 billion US).
Of those spending occasions, Halloween and winter holidays don't normally involve the purchase of gifts. And Halloween doesn't normally feature travel expenses.
More people joining Halloween fun
The popularity of Halloween among young adults surged for the second year in a row in both the United States and Canada.
In 2006, 85.3 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States planned to celebrate the holiday, up from 66.8 per cent in 2005. But they weren't the only ones taking advantage of the ghoulish fun — 76.5 per cent of consumers aged 25 to 34 and 71.3 per cent of 35- to 44-year-olds intended to join the fun.
"Halloween has especially exploded among young adults who are celebrating with large parties and elaborate costumes, driving spending and bringing good news for retailers," said Phil Rist, the vice-president of strategy for BIGresearch, which conducted the U.S. study.
"With the holiday falling on a Tuesday [in 2006], young adults may begin participating in Halloween activities the weekend before and spend several days celebrating."
Half of Canadian celebrants buy costumes
The American study found that close to two-thirds of young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 plan to don a costume at some point over the Halloween season. The most popular choices among them include witches, pirates and vampires.
Meanwhile, the study by the Retail Council of Canada found that of those adults planning to do something to celebrate Halloween, just over half planned to buy their costumes — and spend an average of $33 doing it.
Wal-Mart Canada reports that the Halloween season is its fourth-busiest shopping period of the year, after Christmas, back-to-school and Mother's Day. It expects pirate costumes to be its bestseller, thanks mainly to the success of the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
Jewel-studded costumes for dogs: $240 US
A store in Hartsdare, N.Y., just outside the city of New York, caters more to a niche market. E&E; Hallstrom Haute Couture sells high-end Halloween costumes for dogs ranging in price from $200 US to $240 US.
Eva Hallstrom, who sells doggy costumes made of silk, velvet, leather and semi-precious stones, says, "Dogs like to feel glamorous."
Meanwhile, Halloween paraphernalia is increasingly having to compete with Christmas merchandise as a phenomenon known as "Christmas creep" continues to pick up steam. That's the retail practice of offering Christmas-related merchandise on store shelves earlier each year.
Retailers do it to extend the Christmas shopping season, in hopes that people may be enticed to pay full price for an item, fearing that if they wait too long it will be sold out. There are no statistics yet to show whether Christmas creep either increases Christmas sales — or bites into Halloween's market share.
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