Early Halloween sales up at Meijer

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer is attributing a 50% increase in shoppers taking advantage of early savings on Halloween candy, décor and costumes, to excitement surrounding the days of celebration that will lead up to the actual holiday.

"People are really enthusiastic, especially since Halloween falls on a Monday so the weekend will give kids and adults more opportunities to celebrate," Christina Fecher, a Meijer spokeswoman told SN. "Customers are also commenting on the breadth and variety of the items that we have."

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are shopping earlier this year with 44% beginning shopping for Halloween in the first two weeks of October, 29% in September, 22% in the last two weeks of October and 5% before September.

"Consumers are eager to celebrate Halloween, especially given that eight in 10 Americans will shop by mid-October," said Pam Goodfellow, principal analyst at Prosper Insights, which conducted the research on behalf of NRF. "Americans will enjoy taking advantage of early-bird promotions both online and in-store as they kick off the fall season."

Meijer projects that it will sell 7 million bags of Halloween candy with its bulk offerings appealing to families; more than 80,000 masks and wigs that will supplement DIY costumes, which it said are growing in popularity thanks to Pinterest; and 30% more lighted/animated decor versus last year, with devices that project images and lights onto houses growing increasingly popular, according to Fecher.

Total spending for Halloween is expected to reach $8.4 billion, the highest level in NRF's Halloween survey's 11-year history.