A little fluffy… but that’s okay… (article comes via sellinghalloween.com)

Make It Gory
By Joseph Dobrian, Contributing Editor

When the stock market tumbled in the fall of 2008, costume sales remained relatively strong, but Halloween decor sales suffered, and suppliers fear that as the recession continues, decor will continue to struggle at retail – particularly pricier products. And although outdoor decor has been the focus of shoppers’ attention for the past few years, sales of indoor decor seem to be holding up better as shoppers tighten their budgets.

Suppliers say that price is a major consideration for Halloween decor shoppers, especially now, when budgets are tight. “Expensive outdoor decor is what’s suffering,” says Scott Wentworth, vice president of marketing for Paper Magic. “What is selling for us is inexpensive indoor products that offer bang for the buck. Our ‘Spooky Scenes,’ for example, let you convert your living room into a Halloween dungeon for less than $50.”

Wentworth reports that he also has high hopes for “Window Smashers,” a line in which Halloween characters appear to be crashing through a wall or window. Also attracting attention from buyers, according to Wentworth, are “motionactivated items, some with sound, like a candy bowl with a rat’s tail, which features a squeaking rat sound.” Wentworth reports that his company’s line has gotten a bit more gory for 2009. “We have the Saw license, which is about as gory as it gets,” he notes. “We’ve introduced a line of Saw body parts that look like they’ve been dead or waterlogged for some time. One major trend I’ve noticed in Halloween decor is towards more realism. Scenes are more realistic, less cartoonish, very detailed. That’s been a trend for a long time.”

Shelli Lissick, spokesperson for Midwest/Seasons of Cannon Falls, also emphasizes the price-consciousness of the current market. “We’re seeing an increased demand for more sophisticated, yet affordable, Halloween decor that makes a big impact,” she notes, citing Midwest’s new chalkboard witch, wall-decal sets and Halloween LED magnets as examples of products that are attracting attention currently.

Lissick lists green witches, skeletons and skull-and-crossbones images as popular themes among trendy Halloween consumers. “Skeletons and skulls are a classic for Halloween, but they’ve made their way into the mainstream as a popular icon in fashion, jewelry and even punk-influenced home decor,” says Lissick. “Thanks to this influence, they have made their way to the height of popularity in Halloween decor, too.” As for green witches, which adorn a number of Midwest’s new Halloween products, Lissick traces their popularity directly to the Broadway musical Wicked, which was hugely popular among teenagers and young adults.

Phil Talio, sales manager at Fun World, says that, in general, the more gory and scary a decor product is, the better it will sell, and, he notes, even mass merchandisersand supermarkets are starting to carry more daring products. “They are getting a little more risque,” he says. “For years, it was taboo to have the image of a rat in a place where food was sold, but that’s less the case now. Still, it’s the specialty stores and drugstores that do better with scary products.”

One trend for 2009, Talio predicts, will be “making your house look like a cemetery.” Fun World is ready with skulls, headstones and zombie characters. Says Talio, “Our ‘Ground Breaker’ is a zombie or skeleton that looks like it’s coming out of the ground. We produced a basic model some years back; the new model features lighting and movement – and it screams.”

Gail Weiner, vice president of Penn Distributing, also voices concern about price points, and says this challenge is prompting her company to move toward lower-priced items and less season-specific decor.

“It’s easy for a consumer to justify a $10 item,” she says, “but it’s harder to justify a $100 purchase, or even $50. It’s also easier to justify the cost of an item you can display from September 1st through Thanksgiving. Therefore, we’re going in the direction of harvest and autumn themes.”

Weiner notes that the one product category that shoppers seem willing to pay more for is LED-lighted decor. She explains that consumers are becoming more educated about the ecological and practical benefits of the technology and are choosing LED-lighted products over lower-priced alternatives. “We’re putting LED technology into items that sell well at lower price points, like window decorations,” she says.

Marjorie Reed, director of product development at Roman, Inc., reports that her company offers Halloween novelties and yard art but that Roman’s Halloween night-lights continue to be its most popular Halloween collection. //