According to the NRF it's NOT Halloween!  I recently read an article online that was all about a role reversal for the Holidays this year!  They mentioned how retailers are cheerful for Halloween and Scared by Christmas!?!?

After reading the article through, I got what they were saying.  And until reading that article I didn't realize how Halloween should not be rushed past this year at an attempt for increased Christmas Holiday sales. 

Consumers are looking forward to Halloween and will actually spend more money on it this year, and less money on Christmas!

"According to the National Retail Federation, sales for Halloween are expected to be up around 14 percent this year to $5.77 billion while the Christmas numbers are projected to be up 2.2 percent."

I found this shocking at first, but then after reading further it made sense.  Halloween is fun!  And for the most part a relatively cheap holiday to celebrate.  There are no gifts to buy, just cheap candy, fun decorations for the house, and a costume! 

"In general, there's a bit of a backlog, when someone has spent the last nine to ten months only buying necessities, only focusing on items they can get at great prices," Ellen Davis, vice president at NRF, told Ad Age. "It really has to do more with the mind-set of the shopper. In a lot of ways Halloween and Christmas are really different. We're talking $40 or $50 vs. $800 or $900. It's a lot easier to justify."

This article made me change my ways, like so many other retailers I was gearing up for Christmas.  Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! That was all I could think about.  But I realize now that Halloween might be the golden ticket to cashing in this Holiday season.  Also, I'd hate to appear like the Wal-Marts and big boxes who spring right to Christmas in October. 

So this month we are featuring a Witches Brew Bucket o Wine that will hopefully get our shoppers into the mood.  Also, I have a candy dish at the counter as well as by the door, and I am going to head to Party City this weekend to get some Halloween decorations.  I know I only have a few weeks left to display it all, but I think it will be worth it, and like the consumers in the NRF's report, there's no way I could spend over $60 even if I went all out! 

So I say, embrace this Halloween season; make it fun!  But once it's over, don't let the analysts win, make Christmas and Thanksgiving just as cheerful! Let's not make it the Nightmare before Christmas! ;)