Thread: Less Halloween items out this year in stores--reasons, theories?

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Everywhere I have shopped this year seems to have less Halloween items out. There seems to be less selection and little that is new or different. I don't know if it is just my perception or others have noticed this as well. Last night I went to a Walmart that had only one aisle of Halloween--that included costumes, props, decorations. I have been to two other Walmarts this year which had more, but still not a lot.

Also went to the mall and Hot Topix (sp?) hardly had anything, Spencers had very little, and the seasonal Halloween store in the mall was 3/4 Christmas things and toys. Target had more things, but definitely not as much as other years.

Have others had this same experience? Halloween had become such a big deal do you think it has been overdone and people are tiring of it--I find that hard to imagine, is it the economy?

it appears, to me at least, that there is less & less stuff out there

i travel a lot for business & i found the walmarts in canada to have a good selection

amk

I think it's a combo of the crappy economy, people are spending less on things like this in general, online sales taking over for the bigger, more unique items, & all the stores trying to capitalize on Christmas as early as possible. My Big Lots has almost moved Halloween to the side already for Christmas stuff.

I've also noticed that with Big Lots. the halloween stuff is being purged and the christmas stuff is taking over.

Do you think the reduced inventory has to do with Spirit and Halloween City taking over?

The poor economy. Companies are not going to manufacture as many items simply because their suppliers are not ordering as many items. Thus, fewer items on the shelf. New items and ideas could be tabled due to the cost to manufacture. So take an old prop and give it a minor face lift and it can pass as new. All boils down to economics.

The problem is, and always has been, that Halloween merchandise is only hot for about a month, so whatever you're going to order in you better to be able to sell during October or you're going to take a loss. Stores were ordering Halloween stuff back in early-summer, and at that point the economic news was worse than it is now, so I don't fault stores for not wanting to take much of a risk on Halloween decorations this year.

Wallmart up here is about the same as other years. The Rest are way simpler and smaller.
At the same time, for the first time the speciality stores showed up this year, Halloween Ally, the Boo Store (Parties Plus) and Spirit Halloween showed up.
Andy

Our walmart didn't even have the light up pumpkins wth.

Economy & what little they do have is way over priced. Why don't they get it, one doesn't go with the other. Make some money & sell more & keep jobs, but no sell little & lay off. More Scary then anything.

It sounds like our Walmarts are better stocked than most...

Bottom line...you want more Halloween on the shelf, then start buying more Halloween.

This year, I haven't bought anything at Walmart, Big Lots, Spirit, K-Mart or Shopko. I'll have to take another trip through them to see if there's anything worthy of going back for at 50% off. I'm sure that I'll probably spend money at Big Lots on lights when they go on sale. I have bought from Walgreens, Target and Halloween City. I'll have to see if there's anything there too. Right now, I can't really think of anything that I need or want that'll be worth paying full price for, or 50% off for that matter. I get stupid at 75% off.