Janelle Irwin Taylor
The Florida Retail Federation is expecting record high spending this year for Halloween.
The National Research Federation conducted a survey of shoppers this year who indicated average planned spending of more than $86 each on things like candy, decorations and costumes.
The 2019 spending forecast is the third-highest record for the Halloween season, with 2017 being the peak.
Nearly all Halloween shoppers will purchase candy this month, with 95 percent indicating they’d be ready to hand out sweets to trick-or-treaters in their neighborhoods. Nearly three-quarters of Halloween shoppers said they would purchase decorations, and more than two-thirds plan to buy costumes.
“Whether you’re passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, hosting a party or searching for the perfect costume this season, Florida families can find their Halloween needs at Florida’s retail businesses,” said Scott Shalley, President and CEO of Florida Retail Federation. “Florida’s favorite stores – from the big box brands to the family-owned businesses on Main Street – are ready to deliver this Halloween.”
The group also surveyed consumers on their Halloween costume plans for their families. Princess and superhero costumes dominated the list with 8 percent or respondents saying they’d be purchasing a princess costume and 6 percent saying someone in their family would be dressing as a superhero. Spiderman, Avengers characters other than Spiderman and Batman topped the superhero costume list, in that order.
Other popular costumes included witches, ghosts, vampires and pirates.
The group also surveyed consumers about plans to dress pets up for the holiday. Nearly one in ten said they’d be dressing their pets up as a pumpkin. The next popular pet costume was a hot dog. Cat made the list too, presumably for consumers planning to dress a dog as a cat.
The Florida Retail Federation is the statewide trade association representing retailers who sell directly to consumers. Florida retailers provide one out of every five jobs in the state, pay more than $49 billion in wages annually and collect and remit more than $20 billion in sales taxes for Florida’s government each year.
