Hallowen Industry Booming

As a child, Kyle Billings vaguely remembers trips to the tiny Fun & Games store in downtown Lawrence during the Halloween season.  Thirty years ago, it sold a small number of costumes, accessories and toys. Billings bought the store ten years ago and last year, moved it to a building four times larger on 1601 W. 23rd. St. to allow for the growing demand of Halloween items.

The popularity of Halloween has increased so much over the years that Americans spend $6.9 billion on the holiday annually, according to history.com, which makes it the second largest commercial holiday.

The Halloween industry no longer consists of only costumes and candy. Andrew Goodrich, assistant manager at Spirit Halloween, 3140 S Iowa St, said decorations, novelty items and accessories are all big sellers in Lawrence because of all the college parties.

"[The Halloween industry has] exploded in what is offered," said Billings. "Ten years ago it was minimal. But now quality has increased and costs and inventory gets larger each year."

Unlike its competitors, Fun & Games has costumes, wigs and makeup for sale year-round. To meet the Halloween demands, Billings carries more than 1,000 different styles of costumes.

"Some requests we get are off the wall," Billings said. "If we don't have a costume, then I try to help them put something together."

 Billings said that about 75 percent of his yearly profit comes from the Halloween season. Sara Rice, assistant manager at Party America, 1441 West 23rd St, also said that her store relies heavily on the Halloween season for most of its profit. Rice has worked at Party America for 10 years, watching the trends come and go, and said the season is bigger than it used to be.

"I think it's becoming more of an adult holiday," Rice said.

Rice said that most of the customers who buy costumes tend to be women. The most expensive costume in Party America is a musketeer girl for $100.

"Guys will be whatever," Rice said. "They won't come in and say, 'I've got to be a cow.'"

 Over the past 10 years, the prices of costumes have changed only slightly, but the quality has changed dramatically, Rice said. Once made out of plastic, most costumes are cloth now. As time advances, the realistic qualities of masks, costumes and face paint improve.

If customers are looking for high-quality, realistic costumes, Sarah's Fabrics, 925 Massachusetts St., rents theater-quality costumes for 24 hours at an average cost of about $30.

"It makes me laugh when people come in here and say they bought a costume online where it's a costume in the front, but just a thin piece of fabric in the back," said Kathy Barland, Sarah's Fabrics employee.

Billings said that renting is a good alternative if customers don't want to buy something they may only wear once. In 2006, census.gov, recorded 2,077 costume rental establishments in the nation.

"Fewer people I know in the industry are doing rentals," Billings said. "It's a lot of work because if the costumes come back damaged or stained you have to fix them."

Selling costumes online is a new approach Halloween stores are using to reach customers. Spirit Halloween has a website with hundreds of costumes for sale for men, women and children. Plus sizes, decorations and accessories are also available online. Billings started a Web site for his company over the summer. No sales have been made yet but Billings said he is optimistic. Billings saw a need for an online store because the holiday is always expanding and he wanted to be able to reach more people.