IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
While many people think of Halloween as the spookiest holiday of the year, the scariest thought for the local economy would be what would happen without this widely celebrated holiday. Here in the Inland Empire, there are dozens of Halloween costume retailers, and we interviewed one of the largest. In an interview with Barbara Rozema, the owner of Party Plus in Redlands the impact of Halloween sales became immediately apparent. So far this season Party Plus has hired 27 seasonal employees, sold more than 1,300 costumes, 410 masks, 338 wigs, 56 pet costumes, 268 gloves, and 546 accessory kits. These numbers amazingly do not even take into account the large amounts of decor carried and sold by this single retailer.
While Party Plus was by far the largest Halloween decor and costume retailer we visited, it is important to note that the economic impact of Halloween sales is multiplied by dozens of Halloween retailers. The sharp increase in Halloween shopping leads to hundreds of employees being hired, commercial real estate leases being signed, and a stimulated economy. The above mentioned economic stimulus does not even take into account all of the costumes and accessories sold and shipped out of our Amazon.com distribution centers here in the Inland Empire.
According to the National Retail Federation, 2016 Halloween spending is on track to reach a record $8.4 Billion nationwide. On average each individual celebrating Halloween is spending $82.93 which is up from $74.34 in 2015. So what many people consider the scariest Holiday of all, may be a huge pick-me-up for the US economy.
