Treats, Not Tricks

A survey by the National Retail Foundation confirms that Halloween continues to grow as one of retailing's biggest seasonal merchandising events – especially among young adults. In the NRF study, 65 percent of respondents aged 18-34 say they plan to decorate their homes for Halloween this year (as opposed to 57 percent of all the survey respondents). The survey of 1000 revealed that nearly 39 percent of the target age group plan to attend some Halloween event for adults, and 53.8 percent said they were planning on wearing a costume to work. Halloween is projected to become a $6.8 billion industry this year, with $2 billion of that coming from candy sales and $1.5 billion from costumes. Another $659 million was spent on home decorations in 1999, and sales of pumpkins, greeting cards and party staples could reach $2.7 billion.