Point Park News Service: Halloween shoppers scared about spending too much

Published Friday, November 11, 2011
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Brittany Martin scours racks of fake blood and fangs at Costume World in the Strip District for the perfect accessory to her Halloween pirate ensemble: a plush parrot.

“Honestly, I haven’t purchased anything for my costume this year,” Martin, 23 from Pittsburgh, said last Monday. “I’m using my shirt from home; it’s all homemade.”

Martin, like many, said she opted for a homemade route to save some money this Halloween season. By avoiding high-priced prepackaged costumes, Martin was able to spend the money she saved on accessories and other Halloween tricks and treats.
Yet despite the popularity of homemade costumes, Halloween is considered a recession-proof holiday, with seasonal costume and activity spending increasing each successive year.

According to the annual Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, Americans were projected to spend nearly $7 billion on Halloween novelties, with every seven out of 10 Americans having planned to participate in some spooky activity this year. That’s an average of about $73 spent per scare-seeker on costumes, decorations and candy. Total spending for the 2011 Halloween season was projected to have increased by $1 billion from 2010’s season.

Additionally, only 32.1 percent of those surveyed said the current state of the economy would affect their holiday spending.

While “recession-proof,” Halloween spending is still slightly affected by those who choose to buy less. Of the 32.1 percent whose Halloween spending is affected by the economy, 35.5 percent they would either make their own costume or reuse one from last year.

For a costume warehouse like Costume World, which is open year round at 1690 Smallman St. in the Strip, it is this time of year, the store’s biggest selling season, that the true effects of the nation’s economical decline can be felt, said employee Nick Parilla.

“During this time of year, parents come in with their kids and get a fun costume for the kids, but the parents sort of slack off,” Parilla, who has been a retail employee at Costume World for the past five years, said. “At Halloween, people don’t have that extra money, that extra income to spend on an adult costume, so that’s when we see the most impact. It doesn’t look good, and it affects everyone’s business.”

Despite the selection of both professional-grade and retail-value costumes offered at Costume World, some customers were still focusing on the less expensive approach to the holiday.

Jetta Berrigan, 25 from Pittsburgh, went shopping with her friend Martin for accessories to match their homemade costumes.

Through the money saved by making homemade costumes, both Berrigan and Martin said they were able to make two homemade costumes for two separate parties this year.

“[Store-bought] costumes have just gotten too expensive,” Berrigan said while shopping for a glittery plastic microphone for her homemade Katy Perry costume. “We’re saving money and getting more out of it … Sometimes it’s more fun to make a costume than get one out of a bag.”