Profit treat

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Shoppers are snapping up plastic lawn ornaments, ceramic houses, wreaths, robes and strands of blinking lights.

They're not shopping early for Christmas -- they're decorating for Halloween. The houses are haunted, the light bulbs are orange and the wreaths are made up of tiny skulls.

And merchants are celebrating as the nation's baby boom generation transforms the traditional one-day kiddie holiday into a monthlong spending spree.

Experts say Halloween is now second only to Christmas in its impact on retail sales. Americans will spend $2.5 billion on Halloween goods this year and candy sales account for only a third of that.

"In the past couple of years, people started to notice that Halloween has gotten really, really big," said Pam Rucker, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation in Washington. The trade organization recently started keeping statistics about Halloween sales.

"No one even used to chart it," Rucker said. "It's a phenomenon that kind of snuck up on us, really."

Nowhere is the trend more apparent than in Las Vegas where seasonal stores have mushroomed and haunted houses begin going up across the valley. There's also a World Wide Website on the Internet originating from Las Vegas.

Richard and Ann Siegel operate three stores in Southern Nevada called The Halloween Experience, offering everything from masks and costumes to fog machines, strobe lights and music.

"The reason there are so many people buying is that when you talk about Christmas, people tend to buy presents from all different groups -- washers and dryers, sweaters, toys," said Richard Siegel.

"But for Halloween, it's very focused. We have everything from horror to the whimsical."

Costumes are the big seller, Siegel said, and his wife is the buying expert, determining what's hot and what's not.

"Ann is very good at predicting what parents are going to buy," said Siegel. "We try to offer a wide variety to appeal to larger numbers."

Siegel said not concentrating on one trend usually works well, although the company got burned two years ago when Power Ranger costumes were in heavy demand and stores got caught with their inventories down.

"Goosebumps was supposed to be popular, but it's been a flop and the new Power Ranger, Zeo, was supposed to be big, but it isn't," Siegel said of this year's lineup.

Siegel said Las Vegas isn't any more or less enamored with Halloween than the rest of the nation. He said sales are as brisk in Los Angeles and Tucson, Ariz., where the company has stores, as the ones at the Boulevard and Galleria malls and at a strip mall at Decatur Boulevard and Alta Drive.

The Siegels' Internet site is also moving Halloween merchandise at a brisk rate.

More than 1,000 Halloween-related websites appear on the Internet. Some feature Halloween songs, games and even "virtual haunted houses" but many are promoting merchandise.

The Siegels' Halloween Mart (http: www.accessnev.com/ halloween) claims to be one of the first selling Halloween items on the 'Net, including a $4,900 animated electric chair and a 4-foot, $90 "attack rat."

"Internet orders are coming in so fast at this point it's a full-time job to handle them," said Ann Siegel.

She said Americans working overseas order tons of the spooky stuff via the Internet.

"We ship to Japan, Australia and a lot of European countries," said Siegel, "Especially lots of fake body parts and things like that."

"For some reason, we got a lot of hits and sales from Texas over the weekend," said Richard Siegel. "It's a national phenomenon."

Consumer Kathleen Mulholland is part of the Halloween phenomenon: She spent $250 on Halloween decorations this year -- so far.

"Halloween is my favorite holiday," said Mulholland, 38, of Detroit. "I'm having a party, so I'm back here for the fifth time."

She stopped at Halloween USA in Livonia to buy an extra wig and a black-and-orange pumpkin-patterned bandana for her golden retriever, Sam -- though the dog already has a witch costume of its own. Mulholland plans to wear an elaborate vampire outfit, complete with top-of-the-line pearlized fangs that cost $15.

Halloween USA President John McIntire won't divulge sales figures but says that, for him and partner Chris Bearss, the holiday is a multimillion-dollar business.

"We've grown overall sales 10 to 20 percent every year for the past 10 years," said McIntire. His firm runs two year-round stores in Metro Detroit as well as the Gags & Gifts party supply chain.

Every September, the company opens 20 temporary outlets to handle demand for Halloween costumes and novelties like life-sized foam tombstones, animated figurines and pumpkin-shaped party lights. Prices range from 5 cents for a spider ring to $3,000 for an 8-foot dragon.

Even mainstream retailers are paying attention to Halloween sales. Kmart Corp. of Troy, Mich., said it has been steadily increasing the space it devotes to Halloween items and upgrading the quality of the merchandise.

"Halloween is second in terms of sales volume to Christmas," said Kmart spokeswoman Laura Mahle. "Things that resemble a Christmas idea -- such as lights and wreaths -- have taken off for Halloween. And our costume assortment is becoming more upscale."