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ENLARGEUndecided on what to be for Halloween, 2-year-old Maya Thomas, right, of Helena, Mont., checks out the adult section with her mother Kristene, Sunday at the Halloween Bootique in the Greeley Mall. The Thomases are visiting some family that lives in Greeley.
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Mr. Burns? 4-year-old Kloe Thomas of Helena, Mont., tries out an “excellent” mask as her aunt Hannah Thomas of Greeley lifts the product tag to find her smiling niece's face, Sunday at the Halloween Bootique in the Greeley Mall. The Thomases were just a fraction of customers that filled the store Sunday afternoon. “Customers were waiting for the doors to open,” said sales associate Danielle Duggins, of Greeley.
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With Halloween now a $5 billion holiday, it’s almost scary how much people spend for one spooky night. According to a National Retail Federation survey, people are expected to spend $5.07 billion this Halloween, up significantly from $4.96 billion last year and $3.29 billion the year before.
The spending increase is largely due to a surge in those who celebrate the holiday. According to the survey, 64 percent of consumers will celebrate Halloween this year, a rise from 53 percent in 2005.
These statistics are not lost on local businesses and retailers hoping to cash in on the holiday.
St. Michael’s Events Center in west Greeley is the latest to jump into the Halloween trend. The events center, developed by Calvin Enterprises, opened its Scare Fair last week with five haunted houses animated and staffed by Distortions Unlimited, a Greeley company that’s made itself a nationwide reputation for making Halloween masks and animations. It’s an event the developers hope to run annually.
St. Michael’s Events Center in west Greeley is the latest to jump into the Halloween trend. The events center, developed by Calvin Enterprises, opened its Scare Fair last week with five haunted houses animated and staffed by Distortions Unlimited, a Greeley company that’s made itself a nationwide reputation for making Halloween masks and animations. It’s an event the developers hope to run annually.
“We’re trying to find and create new and unique events to complement our experience that we have out as a gathering place. We were just looking for unique ideas, and knowing Distortions was in town and it was nationally recognized, we just put in a phone call,” said DJ Calvin, host of the Scare Fair. “Whether the event returns money or not, we’ve received a whole bunch of recognition for the Town Square and for Greeley. ... It’s a pretty fun event to put on.”
Spirit Halloween Superstore is one of the many Halloween specialty stores open in Fort Collins. Spirit, whose parent company is Spencer Gifts, typically opens for three months to cash in on residents looking for costumes, decorations and other ghoulish items.
With so much potential income up for grabs, a number of Halloween stores temporarily set up shop to do business.
Missy Becker, the owner of the Spirit stores in Fort Collins and Loveland, has been in the Halloween business for three years.
Located in the former Nate’s Steak and Seafood Place on Mason Street and College Avenue in Fort Collins, Becker said Halloween is so popular because it’s the only “me” holiday. “You can buy for yourself,” she said.
The Fort Collins store fills about 4,000 square feet, which is fairly large for a specialty store, but Becker said business couldn’t be better. In addition to the typical Halloween shopper, she said she has seen an increase in professionals trying to decide between pirates and princesses.
Costumes at the store range from $23 to nearly $130 for a Playboy outfit.
“Anytime a girl can dress up and be sexy ...” she said.
Amy Tiller, manager of Halloween Bootique at the Greeley Mall, agrees. Tiller said the store gets busier and busier with Halloween approaching.
“Business is pretty good,” she said. “I would say we have done better than last year.”
The growing popularity of Halloween allows stores such as Halloween Bootique to only open for two months out of the year. The store opened Sept. 4 and will close Wednesday.
Another example of the drawing power of Halloween can be seen in Fritzler’s Maze seven mile south of Greeley on U.S. 85.
With the money being made with the popular seasonal attraction, Glen Fritzler said he now makes mazes for a living and farms on the side. This is the eighth year he’s created the maze.
“It’s not a side business anymore, it’s a whole new business,” he said. “We have invested a great deal in the property. It takes a tremendous amount of work. It’s a full-fledged, time-consuming job.”
Fritzler said he is able to cover costs and make a profit within the two-month window that the maze is open.
With production starting in June, the 15-acre maze opens in September but then becomes a haunted maze by the end of the month; it closes on Halloween.
“We had no idea that it would turn into something so popular,” he said.
Cindi Rubiano and her husband Jess Aragon, both of Windsor, have operated a pumpkin patch for the last 10 years in Fort Collins. This year, Spooky’s Pumpkin Patch is located at the former Perkins Restaurant on 3300 S. College Ave.
“Things are going great,” Rubiano said. “Most of the business happens in the last two weeks (before Halloween).”
With each passing year, Rubiano said business picks up.
Rubiano said they sell about 3,000 pumpkins each year. They enjoy the additional income from the pumpkin patch, which operates during the slow time of their landscaping business. The couple also operates a Christmas tree lot.
“(The pumpkin patch) is a good thing for a month,” she said. “We did it to set up for the tree lot.”
Though growing, Halloween still lags behind five other U.S. holidays in terms of spending, including Christmas and winter holidays ($457.4 billion), Valentine’s Day ($13.7 billion), Easter ($12.63 billion), Mother’s Day ($13.8 billion) and Father’s Day ($9 billion). And because Halloween is not a gift-giving holiday, it ranks lower than other annual holidays in terms in spending, according to the Retail Federation.
Halloween spending
The average Halloweener will spend $64.82 this year, an increase from $59.06 last year. And most of that spending will be on candy and costumes. The average person will spend $23.33 on costumes, though young adults will likely spend significantly more. According to the federation, 18- to 24-year-olds will spend $34.06 on costumes, nearly twice as much as they plan to spend on candy.
— Source: National Retail Federation
Top Kids’ Costumes:
Princess
Witch
Spiderman
Monster
Darth Vader
Superhero
Star Wars Character
Batman
Ninja
Clown
Pirate
Angel
Pumpkin
Power Rangers
Cinderella
Vampire
Cheerleader
Cat
Ghost/Ghoul
Soldier/Sailor
Source: National Retail Federation
St. Michael’s Event Center Scare Fair, 65th Avenue and U.S. 34 Bypass
Five haunted houses, animated and staffed by Greeley-based Distortions Unlimited.
Hours: 6-11 p.m. each night through Halloween. Cost to go through all haunted houses is $18; individual haunted house entries are $7 each. The scare factor of the houses range from mild, and suitable for families, to extremely scary, one of which children are not allowed.
For more information, call St. Michael’s at (970) 336-1000.
With so much potential income up for grabs, a number of Halloween stores temporarily set up shop to do business.
Missy Becker, the owner of the Spirit stores in Fort Collins and Loveland, has been in the Halloween business for three years.
Located in the former Nate’s Steak and Seafood Place on Mason Street and College Avenue in Fort Collins, Becker said Halloween is so popular because it’s the only “me” holiday. “You can buy for yourself,” she said.
The Fort Collins store fills about 4,000 square feet, which is fairly large for a specialty store, but Becker said business couldn’t be better. In addition to the typical Halloween shopper, she said she has seen an increase in professionals trying to decide between pirates and princesses.
Costumes at the store range from $23 to nearly $130 for a Playboy outfit.
“Anytime a girl can dress up and be sexy ...” she said.
Amy Tiller, manager of Halloween Bootique at the Greeley Mall, agrees. Tiller said the store gets busier and busier with Halloween approaching.
“Business is pretty good,” she said. “I would say we have done better than last year.”
The growing popularity of Halloween allows stores such as Halloween Bootique to only open for two months out of the year. The store opened Sept. 4 and will close Wednesday.
Another example of the drawing power of Halloween can be seen in Fritzler’s Maze seven mile south of Greeley on U.S. 85.
With the money being made with the popular seasonal attraction, Glen Fritzler said he now makes mazes for a living and farms on the side. This is the eighth year he’s created the maze.
“It’s not a side business anymore, it’s a whole new business,” he said. “We have invested a great deal in the property. It takes a tremendous amount of work. It’s a full-fledged, time-consuming job.”
Fritzler said he is able to cover costs and make a profit within the two-month window that the maze is open.
With production starting in June, the 15-acre maze opens in September but then becomes a haunted maze by the end of the month; it closes on Halloween.
“We had no idea that it would turn into something so popular,” he said.
Cindi Rubiano and her husband Jess Aragon, both of Windsor, have operated a pumpkin patch for the last 10 years in Fort Collins. This year, Spooky’s Pumpkin Patch is located at the former Perkins Restaurant on 3300 S. College Ave.
“Things are going great,” Rubiano said. “Most of the business happens in the last two weeks (before Halloween).”
With each passing year, Rubiano said business picks up.
Rubiano said they sell about 3,000 pumpkins each year. They enjoy the additional income from the pumpkin patch, which operates during the slow time of their landscaping business. The couple also operates a Christmas tree lot.
“(The pumpkin patch) is a good thing for a month,” she said. “We did it to set up for the tree lot.”
Though growing, Halloween still lags behind five other U.S. holidays in terms of spending, including Christmas and winter holidays ($457.4 billion), Valentine’s Day ($13.7 billion), Easter ($12.63 billion), Mother’s Day ($13.8 billion) and Father’s Day ($9 billion). And because Halloween is not a gift-giving holiday, it ranks lower than other annual holidays in terms in spending, according to the Retail Federation.
Halloween spending
The average Halloweener will spend $64.82 this year, an increase from $59.06 last year. And most of that spending will be on candy and costumes. The average person will spend $23.33 on costumes, though young adults will likely spend significantly more. According to the federation, 18- to 24-year-olds will spend $34.06 on costumes, nearly twice as much as they plan to spend on candy.
— Source: National Retail Federation
Top Kids’ Costumes:
Princess
Witch
Spiderman
Monster
Darth Vader
Superhero
Star Wars Character
Batman
Ninja
Clown
Pirate
Angel
Pumpkin
Power Rangers
Cinderella
Vampire
Cheerleader
Cat
Ghost/Ghoul
Soldier/Sailor
Source: National Retail Federation
St. Michael’s Event Center Scare Fair, 65th Avenue and U.S. 34 Bypass
Five haunted houses, animated and staffed by Greeley-based Distortions Unlimited.
Hours: 6-11 p.m. each night through Halloween. Cost to go through all haunted houses is $18; individual haunted house entries are $7 each. The scare factor of the houses range from mild, and suitable for families, to extremely scary, one of which children are not allowed.
For more information, call St. Michael’s at (970) 336-1000.
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