Halloween, once for kids, has become an adult holiday
Halloween spending is expected to top $7.4 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Pet costumes is the fastest-growing spending category, and Americans will spend more on Halloween costumes for adults than for children.
Players from the Boston Bruins NHL hockey team pose in costumes from the movie 'Frozen' during the team's annual Halloween season visit to Children's Hospital Boston. Spending on adult Halloween costumes is expected to reach $1.38 billion this year, compared to 1.06 billion for kids, according to the National Retail Federation.
Boston Bruins/AP
Americans will spend a scary amount on Halloween this year.
Costumes, candy and decoration sales are expected to top $7.4 billion, according to聽. A record number of people (67%) plan to buy costumes, including $350 million on pet costumes 鈥� the fastest growing category of Halloween spending. Pet costume sales have risen 59% since 2010, according to NRF. And trick-or-treaters can expect to rake in $2.2 billion in candy.
Halloween may traditionally be for children, but in recent decades the holiday has morphed into an adult affair. Bars and liquor stores can expect a burst in sales this weekend: average alcohol consumption on Halloween rises nearly 30% when it falls on a Friday or Saturday,聽
鈥淭he fact of the matter is, it鈥檚 been taken over for the past 20 years or more as an adult holiday,鈥� says Arthur Shapiro of AIM Shapiro & Associates, a marketing firm that specializes in the alcohol industry.
鈥淎side from Thanksgiving and Christmas, this is the holiday where retailers take in a lot of customers,鈥� Shapiro said. 鈥淣ew Year鈥檚 Eve is the big one, obviously, but Halloween has reached the point where it鈥檚 become a big holiday for adults.鈥�
Indeed, adults now spend more on costumes for themselves than on costumes for children. Adult costume sales are expected to reach $1.38 billion this year, compared to 1.06 billion for kids, according to NRF estimates.
Another growing business is popup haunted houses, haunted mazes and other live-action Halloween amusements, which are expected to rake in $300 million a year, according to the Haunted Attractions Association.
鈥淧eople historically love to dress up and have fun and go out; people also love horror movies. Really, these attractions are another form of that,鈥� says John Eslich, president of the Haunted Attractions Association.
Eslich founded the Factory of Terror in Canton, Ohio, which is聽聽as the longest walk-through horror house in the world. 鈥淧eople drive from three hours away鈥� to pay the $26 per person to get a fright. 鈥淚 just love to see people get scared; it鈥檚 so up-close and personal,鈥� says Eslich, whose company operates 20 days a year and employs 120 people.