Business of Halloween is growing

The Halloween market is a growing niche, providing consumers a momentary escape from reality, say retailers.

"You don't have to be a rocket scientist," said Bernie Sensale, chief executive of the Fortunoff Backyard Store, which has transformed its Westbury store into a "Halloween emporium," with a wide range of costumes and decorations. "All you had to do is drive around Long Island last October and see all these pop-up stores like we did. It's obviously growing here."

A survey conducted for the National Retail Federation, a trade organization, said 68.6 percent of Americans, or about 7 in 10, intend to celebrate, an increase from the 63.8 percent who expected to participate last year. The average person is expected to spend $72.31, up from last year's $66.28. Total Halloween purchases are projected to reach $6.86 billion.

Retail analyst Marshal Cohen expects Halloween won't be quite the treat that the federation projects, and is likely to bring only a 2 percent increase in sales from last year. Typically a significant boost in Halloween sales is driven by the holiday falling on Friday or Saturday, he said. This year, it falls on a Monday.

"You are going to get marginal growth because the consumer is feeling a little bit healthier, but there's nothing else going on," Cohen said. "There's no supersonic character that came out of a movie this year."

Still, a spokeswoman for Spirit Halloween, a national chain with 12 seasonal Halloween stores on Long Island, said Halloween spending continues to grow, driven in part by the need for an inexpensive vacation from a stalled economy.

"People want to escape their problems even more and are looking forward to a holiday where they can forget their problems and become somebody else," said Heather Golin, of Spirit Halloween, based in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.