ArchivesCategory: Tips

by Doug Desjardins Retailers expecting Halloween to resurrect moribund sales had better start looking forward to the holidays instead. In what's become a familiar refrain for every shopping season in 2009, analysts are expecting Halloween sales to be slower than 2008. The National Retail Federation (NRF) said it expects total retail spending for Halloween to Continue Reading

by Doug Desjardins Halloween is the busiest time of the year for candy manufacturers - October alone accounts for 75% of all candy corn sales - and that's not going to change this year. But more suppliers than ever are tapping into a growing demand for healthier treats and eco-friendly Halloween products. This isn't a Continue Reading

by Doug Desjardins Specialty retailers have been hit hard by the recession as cash-strapped consumers move to mass merchants and discount stores to save money. But one of the unlikely beneficiaries of the retail slump are seasonal Halloween retailers. National chains like Spirit Halloween and Halloween Adventure are accustomed to occupying whatever space they can Continue Reading

If you're looking for information on holiday travel trends, here's a list of great resources. They include government Web sites, travel industry trade associations and and research firms that specialize in the travel industry. TRAVEL ORGANIZATIONS International Air Travel Association - Trade association that represents the commercial passenger airline and cargo shipping industries. U.S. Travel Continue Reading

Looking for information on sales trends and forecasts for Halloween products? Check out this list of resources that provides information on retail and supplier trends and the economic forces that drive them. TRADE ASSOCIATIONS National Confectioner's Association - www. candyusa.org. -  Trade group that promotes the interests of the confectionary industry and tracks annual and Continue Reading

by Robin Fiedler Halloween since its origins has been mired in giving "treats" to the spirits so that they don’t "trick" your house. Professor Lesley Bannatyne from Harvard explains that Halloween centers around “remembering the dead with food [as our] 1000-year-old precedent for both the ghostliness associated with Halloween and what we know now as Continue Reading

by Robin Fiedler Deciding what to dress up as on Halloween can be as momentous as making dinner for your mother-in-law or meeting your girlfriend’s dad for the first time--because people remember. And not only do they remember, they scrutinize costumes until the next year’s competition. Oh yeah, it’s a brutal endeavor, a vicious circle Continue Reading

by Robin Fiedler Adults’ desire to transform into an anarchist one day out of the year is so strong that Halloween sales have increased steadily since the 1980’s. Lesley Bannatyne, a Halloween expert at Harvard, writes in “What’s Next: Trends in Halloween,” “Halloween today is second only to Christmas in activity, say the merchant associations Continue Reading

by Robin Fiedler Make your own house haunted!  The cheapest, the scariest, and the most fun on Halloween trick-or-treat night is to make a house look haunted.  You need spider webs on your windows, haunted-house music, and a ghoulish get-up. Turn the lights out, except for maybe a candle or two, and wait for the Continue Reading

by Robin Fiedler For Trick-or-Treat, consider dressing up as Al Gore and handing out copies of An Inconvenient Truth. Okay, maybe not. The message may be too scary, but you can do a few eco-friendly tricks on All Hallow’s Eve. Costumes – the worst costume is the synthetic fabric, wear it one-time throw away. If Continue Reading