The leaves change. It¡¯s Autumn, right? That means Halloween! $6.8 billion the magic number--- that¡¯s how much the National 1)Retail 2)Federation says we¡¯ll spend on all Hallo¡¯s Eve this year. It¡¯s just one day in October, but the 3)hype starts early folks. Candy is in the stores in September, and some start even earlier. Rubies makes and ships millions of costumes to 4)Wal-Mart, K-mart and Toys-R-Us, from design to production, to the customer, it starts here.
¡°Halloween is very much affected by the toy industry, and what's hot in the movies, and even current events.¡±
Last year, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was big. This year it's more mixed. ¡°I'm gonna be a genie.¡± You can't forget 5)standbys like Superman, Barbie and ¡°a grim reaper,¡± and Halloween's traditional cast of characters always gets its do. ¡°I¡¯m gonna be a mummy.¡±
Eighty-four percent of kids under 15 will don a disguise for the day, but it's not just for them. Twenty-six percent of adults will join in the fun. ¡°You want to get out of your ordinary life, and be somebody else for a change.¡± We'll spend an average of $27 per costume. To some, money well spent, to others a little too much. ¡°I think all holidays have kinda gone overboard, and Halloween is one of them.¡± ¡°I'm an adult, still my favorite holiday.¡±
Spooky World is a Halloween theme park employing 400 people in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It all started nine years ago with a 6)hay ride. They've added four haunted houses and three museums. Only on weekends in October, 10,000 thrill seekers a night dare to be scared, and for $23.50 each, they want their money¡¯s worth. ¡°Each year the popularity increases in the bar, the level of customer satisfaction increases, the guest is actually looking for us to 7)excel and go to the next step.¡±
A little further south, look at these New Jersey homes. Fifty-seven percent of us decorate our houses, magazine cover stories and store fronts fuel the holiday as a decorating event. Salem, Massachusetts known for its witches and 8)haunted happenings, bring a quarter of a million people to visit, 9)generating $30 million in income, just for October. That's a major 10)impact for a city of 38,000 people.
¡°I get lots of candy, it's fun.¡± Then the sweet stuff, the candy commodity exchange on the neighborhood market. Eight in ten parents will give out candy, spending two billion on treats. Thirty-five percent of all the candy sold in a year is sold now. It's a sure thing for candy makers. ¡°Halloween is going to happen whether it rains or whether it snows. And from a candy manufacturer's point of view, the goods are going to be sold ahead of time.¡±
And after ¡°trick or treating¡± is over, the celebrating is in, a third of adults will attend parties. And with all the money spent on a single day, for many the cost of 11)shedding 12)inhibitions is a small price to pay.
¡°I'll never grow out of it, I guess.¡±
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