By Ed Avis
A dozen NCA members gathered via Zoom on June 13 to talk about Halloween trends and ideas, with the hopes that we would improve sales this Halloween compared to last year. Lots of interesting possibilities were discussed, but one stood out: the power of events.
For example, Bonnie Johnsen, co-owner of The Costumer in Schenectady, New York, says her store sponsors pumpkin-decorating and mask-making events.
“We like to do them outside on our patio,” Johnsen explained. “We'll buy a whole bunch of small pumpkins and the inexpensive decorating kits. They are just stickers and washable markers. We have to run out and buy more pumpkins a lot of times because they're so well attended. People love it and the kids like to get out early, so we find people actually are waiting at the door for us to open at 10.”
Johnsen explained that the mask-making event is also very well attended. She buys simple mask kits from Oriental Trading that consist of a blank foam mask and Halloween-themed stickers.
“It’s a really simple, easy activity,” she explained. “We get toddlers through 10-year-olds, and they love it. We’ll do them two or three Saturdays during the course of October.”
Ann Dorsey, owner of McCabe’s Costumes in Winterville, North Carolina, said she hosts events in her store during which make-up artists help customers complete their look. For example, she sells a good number of Beetlejuice costumes and has a make-up artist in the store who can help customers learn how to create the look.
“There's this one lady here, she does phenomenal, phenomenal makeup,” Dorsey says. “And that's what she’ll do for two, three days -- the make-up for people for their costumes.”
A more macabre example of a store event was mentioned by James Purvis, owner of Halloween by Scary Jim in suburban Milwaukee – he plans to run a contest in which the winners get to spend Halloween night in a hearse in front of his store!
“I bought an old hearse last year and put it in front of my store and it drew a lot of attention, so this year I'm doing a promotion called Survive Till Dawn,” Purvis explained. “Customers will fill out a postcard in the store, one entry per day. The winner will get to sleep over in our hearse on Halloween night, for two adults. So hopefully it'll draw people into the store.”
Several attendees to the NCA Halloween conversation regularly hold in-store events that make it easy for people with disabilities to choose costumes.
Dorsey of McCabe’s Costumes said she holds “sensory Sunday” events that accommodate customers who are uncomfortable with the dramatic sounds and lights that are often found in costume shops.
“We dim our lights and we shut off the music,” she explained. “And a lot of times the parents email us ahead of time and say, ‘My son likes the Red Power Ranger, this is the size that he takes.’ So we can prepare that stuff for him so they can be in and out a little bit faster.”
The Costumer in Schenectady hosts sensory-free events every Sunday, Johnsen said. She promotes the events through local organizations that work with people with disabilities.
“Our Sundays a very different vibe because we keep the music off all day and we don't have any of the crazy animatronics going, and we lower the lights,” Johnsen said. “It's just a very quiet, calm day. So it's a nice day for them to bring in their children.”
Sometimes events go beyond the store itself. Marc Davis, owner of Party Planet Brooklyn in New York, helped organize a block-wide Halloween event last year. The street was closed and the businesses were invited to set up tables outside. He expects it to occur again this year.
“We will have a clown making balloon animals, we'll have somebody doing face painting. It's kind of a costume party,” he said. “We're not getting too many people coming in for costumes because they already have them, but I'll sell some Silly Strings, some party snappers, things like that. It's one big party.”
The bottom-line: Events are a good way to get customers in the door, and Halloween season is a great time to do it. Have fun!
There was much more to this Halloween conversation, so if you'd like to watch the recording, click here to log into the Member Center, then select Resources at the left, then choose NCA Recorded Webinars. The Halloween conversation is the top recording.