For Retailers, a Halloween Shock: It’s Actually Happening

Sales of costumes and decorations have been strong, with some seeing the holiday as a last hurrah before winter and the pandemic send people back inside.

By Sapna Maheshwari and Gillian Friedman

Oct. 29, 2020

Motion-sensored animatronics like these “Candy Creep” clowns welcomed customers to the Morris Costumes store in Charlotte, N.C.Alycee Byrd for The New York Times

Scott Morris, a co-owner of Morris Costumes in Charlotte, N.C., has slept at the office for the past 50 days — but he isn’t complaining.

His company, which distributes Halloween costumes and décor and operates the Halloween Express chain, has been racing to meet demand for a holiday that, earlier this year, seemed as if it might not happen as it usually does. Retailers that typically place orders between May and July largely held off, nervous about whether people would dress up and go out during a pandemic.

“Then they all woke up in early August and said, ‘Oh, my gosh, Halloween is going to happen,’” Mr. Morris said last week in an interview.

So began a mad dash for a business that is surprisingly robust this year — with certain twists. Coronavirus-related costumes like hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and illustrations of the virus itself have boomed, Mr. Morris said. People are also dressing up as rolls of toilet paper in a nod to the obsessive stockpiling of the item during the early months of the pandemic. The e-commerce surge has Morris Costumes mailing out as many as 30,000 packages a day.

Scott Morris at his warehouse in Charlotte. With the uncertainty of the pandemic, many stores held off on their pre-Halloween orders of costumes from his company, leading to an increase in the fall.Alycee Byrd for The New York Times

There are fewer costumes tied to recent movies, however, given the fact that Hollywood is mostly on pause. And despite the internet’s enthusiasm for a “sexy hand sanitizer” costume, Mr. Morris said the “sexy costume category” had perhaps struggled the most in this unusual year.

“Most of that is worn by college people going to bars, and I think that a lot of the bars are going to be shut down,” he said.

The outlook for Halloween was as grim as a reaper at the outset of the pandemic, with companies like Hershey cutting back on candy packaging tied to trick-or-treating and some pop-up retailers for spooky wares waiting to secure physical spaces. But in the past two months, many Americans have leaned into fictional fright in an all-too terrifying year. They are going all out on decorations like inflatable witches and hanging skeletons as part of a broader spending blitz on home goods, and they are snapping up costumes as they look to celebrate Halloween safely, with many viewing it as a last outdoor hurrah before winter descends.

“Halloween is turning out to be the last potential holiday that people can celebrate, either outside under a patio with some heating lamps or being able to trick-or-treat, before Thanksgiving hits,” said Robert Berman, chief executive of Rasta Imposta, a costume seller.

“The whole family is getting into the spirit because everyone keeps saying we need Halloween, we need something for the kids,” added Mr. Berman, who is closely involved with the Halloween & Costume Association trade group.

The National Retail Federation, an industry group, expected Halloween consumer spending to hit about $8 billion this year, a decline from $8.8 billion last year, as a result of fewer Halloween parties and haunted house visits and less trick-or-treating. But enthusiasm around costumes and decorations has persisted.

Mr. Morris said the automated shipping process at his distribution center could process a package every three and a half seconds.

“We have sold more decorations, more animated props than we ever have in the history of our company,” which dates back to 1965, said Mr. Morris, who owns the business with his sister Terri Bate. People are “dressing up the house much more,” he said.

Even people abstaining from trick-or-treating are donning new get-ups, often for Facebook and Instagram, said Mr. Berman, whose sales have also increased. He likened this year’s quest for lighthearted costumes to the Halloween after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. While some customers have shied away from costumes that depict images of the coronavirus itself, people have embraced outfits that, he said, reflect “the culture of what we’re faced with now.”

At Morris Costumes, the “sexy” category, including styles like the “Sexy Michael Myers” costume, have been hit hard by low sales because of the pandemic.

Coronavirus-themed costumes have become a popular choice for customers. The category is currently sold out at Morris Costumes.

“They’re doing fun things like the sanitizer bottle or disinfectant,” Mr. Berman said. “People are going to be toilet paper — you can either be a full roll of toilet paper or the brown cardboard tube with a little piece of toilet paper stuck to it.” He shared a picture of a group costume involving both outfits along with a third person dressed as feces.

CAM