Halloween Sell Through

[storewanderer]

What is Halloween sell through looking like?

From what I am seeing Halloween Items are selling through surprisingly well. Stores I went into the past couple days (multiple Wal Mart, Walgreens, and Smiths locations) have sold down Halloween very well and have limited non-food left and are easily through more than half of their candy. In the case of Smiths they ran a lot of price promotions leading up to Halloween which probably explains how they sold through as much as they did. But Wal Mart hasn't run any price promotions. The Wal Marts had a lot of non-food and I am very surprised with the sell through on the stuff (seems like they have less left now, than they did at this time last year). I also notice more houses are decorated for Halloween this year than in previous years.

Even a medium volume Walgreens I went into was down to about half of an aisle total of Halloween product; this store didn't get much to begin with but did have it spread out over an entire aisle with a few endcaps of candy that have also been condensed into that half aisle.

[arizonaguy]

The impression I get is with more and more people stuck at home people are spending more on Halloween for their own families and close social circles than they otherwise would. This includes decorations (my neighborhood has more decorations than it ever has) as well as candy and costumes.

There is an effort to try to make Halloween as "normal" for kids as possible.

[babs]

I'm seeing way more Halloween at Target and Walmart than you should say before Halloween, especially on costumes. Good year to buy next year's costume.

[BillyGr]

Probably all of the above, plus some people who just like candy and if they see it advertised (particularly a good price) buy it that way rather than the "regular" version on the shelf nearby.

[storewanderer]

I went into some Sacramento suburb stores tonight and the Halloween was in very short supply. A couple of Rite Aid locations and a Target location were very hit. The Rite Aid was almost completely sold out of everything, the main thing left was candy and not much of it. I am guessing they didn't have much to begin with. Target still had its share of costumes, but the amount left did not look excessive, probably about 30% of what they initially had was left which seems about right. So it appears in Placer County that Halloween is going very well this year and with a high level of interest. Some grocery stores also did not have any full size pumpkins left.

Also a few Spirit stores were very busy, which yes you would expect the day before Halloween. But I am talking like 50-60+ people in a little 15k square foot store... everyone had masks, but space-wise, it was packed and no social distancing going on at all.

[Alpha8472]

Halloween this year is a time to escape the trouble of the world and indulge in some light-hearted fun. Parents are buying their children costumes and decorations for mini-parties at home. People are doing a lot of indoor decorating at home as well as some very elaborate outdoor decorations.

People may stay home this year, but they are buying like crazy to make their homes look great. Door to door trick or treating will probably be very rare this year, but people are ready to celebrate at home. I have noticed some supermarkets now allow their employees to dress up in costumes. Nob Hill Foods employees had some great costumes this year. Big box stores are also allowing their employees to dress up in costumes this year. The companies want to cheer up their customers and employees in any way possible.

[buckguy]

Seasonal merchandise is always a gamble and often a money loser, so I think chains were very conservative in their buying. They also didn't go all in on promotions. CVS, Walgreen and the various super markets around me have had much less this years, esp. candy. Decorating is a big deal in this area, so the pumpkins went quickly, along with cobwebs and other things that can't be reused. CVS already has sizable Christmas displays, so it's obvious where their hopes are.

[Super S]

Seems like stores in general in my area had more on hand compared to past years, not just candy but also pumpkins and other decorations and still had a decent amount of stock on hand a few days ago. Many public officials and localities aren't banning trick-or-treating but it is strongly discouraged, and many Halloween events are cancelled. I kinda wonder how well the Spirit stores are doing this year.

[Bagels]

Halloween sales will be a fraction of what they were in year's past. Around me, there's only a few "pop up" Halloween stores and zero makeshift "pumpkin patches." Most stores, including Walmart, Target, Albertsons, Dollar Tree, 99 Cent Only, etc. expanded their early Holiday selection, limiting the space reserved for Halloween. The only store that has a similar YOY selection is Ralphs... and everything Halloween related has been 50% off for weeks.

Yes, what little inventory stores have opted to carry may be moving, but YOY numbers will be a disaster.

[storewanderer]

Halloween sales will be a fraction of what they were in year's past. Around me, there's only a few "pop up" Halloween stores and zero makeshift "pumpkin patches." Most stores, including Walmart, Target, Albertsons, Dollar Tree, 99 Cent Only, etc. expanded their early Holiday selection, limiting the space reserved for Halloween. The only store that has a similar YOY selection is Ralphs... and everything Halloween related has been 50% off for weeks.

Yes, what little inventory stores have opted to carry may be moving, but YOY numbers will be a disaster.

I noticed zero makeshift pumpkin patches in my area this year, but a local nursery operator with 3 or so locations around town seems to have taken many of those pumpkins and has been selling pumpkins for .99 (not sure how many they have left). Safeway had far fewer pumpkins than usual (at 5.99 or 6.99 each they are probably smart to not bother with many); Save Mart had tons at 3.33 each but sold through pretty well, Smiths had tons at 4.00 each and some stores sold through and some have more left, WinCo still had tons at .25 per pound. Raleys has managed to get rid of most of their pumpkins, not sure what their price was. Scolaris sold out of pumpkins as well (didn't have many there) at 4.00 each.