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First, it was American flags. Now, retailers are facing another shortage triggered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon: Firefighter costumes for Halloween. With more than a month to go before Oct. 31, some of America's largest costume makers say their inventories of firefighter outfits are all but depleted. "We didn't have a lot of extra stock, but what was here was gone within the first week [after the attacks]," says Jeff Coppens, director of marketing and product development for Disguise Inc., which sells Halloween costumes to such mass merchandisers as Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target.
Firefighters aren't the only heroes kids want to imitate this year. Retailers are also seeing a run-up in demand for police officer and doctor outfits. At Party City, sales of such costumes are up 10% to 20% so far over last year, says Andy Bailen, executive vice-president for merchandising and marketing. The company, with some 470 stores countrywide, has already ordered extra stocks of these outfits, and it may ask suppliers to ship more if demand continues to climb. Halloween accounts for more than 20% of Party City's total business each year.
Indeed, the holiday means big bucks for lots of companies, from candy-corn makers to costume designers. Industry experts estimate that Halloween rings up $5 billion in sales each year, making it second only to Christmas in dollar volume. Costumes account for as much as $1.5 billion of that pie, with candy and accessories making up the rest. Disguise, which creates some 500 different outfits for trick-or-treaters, sells roughly 10 million Halloween costumes yearly.
NO TIME LEFT. Most retailers put in orders for their costumes last winter -- when no one could have anticipated that a disaster would have killed so many of New York's Bravest, which apparently has prompted above-average demand from their tiny admirers. In fact, Disguise produced only about 75,000 firefighter costumes, and it doesn't have time to make more. Other manufacturers are in a similar pinch.
Bruce Reid, vice-president for sales at the fall, spring, and everyday division of costume maker Paper Magic, has fielded a half-dozen calls from retailers who are scrambling to stock more police and firefighter outfits, which sell for about $14.99 each. But "at this point, those are pretty much gone," says Reid, who adds that the company made roughly 20,000 of those costumes this year. Don't count on finding GI Joe kiddie fatigues, either. Reid says his warehouse has been nearly emptied of those, too.
Halloween sales generally rev up during the first week of October, industry watchers say, but shoppers may be buying earlier this year. Party City's Bailen says holiday business is up "significantly" compared with the same period a year ago, but he declines to give specific figures.
UNCLE SAM & W. Kiddie outfits aren't the only ones doing well. In recent weeks, mask maker César has also seen an uptick in sales of its Uncle Sam and George W. Bush guises. "Whenever there's patriotic feeling around the country, political masks do well," says César General Manager Tim Hall. He says he has received a few stray requests for masks of terrorist Osama bin Laden, but the company has no plans to make one. Meanwhile, César's "mayor" mask -- modeled after New York City's Rudy Giuliani -- hasn't sparked much interest, despite the mayor's higher profile in recent days.
Other marketers are hoping that consumers will go for anything red, white, and blue, at least through Halloween. Since Sept. 11, sales of red and blue Rit Dye have spiked as much as 10%, says Bob Kaufmann, senior product manager for the brand at Best Foods. The company thinks that figure could jump even higher in coming weeks as people create their own patriotic get-ups. Rit will be right there to offer them suggestions. This week, the company's research lab is rushing to finish a handful of patriotic costumes. Its "American flag" outfit will feature red and blue stripes dyed on a pair of white pants, along with a white shirt stenciled with red and blue stars.
Of course, how big a success Halloween is this year could hinge on what happens in the country over the next few weeks: Will a sluggish economy and the possibility of military action -- or more terrorism -- dampen what's usually a party mood? The costume industry is hoping that kids will still be kids -- and also latch onto the traditional costumes of the season. Best-sellers generally are the current-favorite cartoon characters. This year, Shrek and Bob the Builder are at the top of the list.
As America's leaders implore citizens to try to get on with life, what could be more normal than children parading around the neighborhood and collecting loads of candy in a plastic pumpkin? "Fortunately, kids are very resilient. They're going to want to trick or treat," says Paper Magic's Reid. They're not just resilient. Many of them are aware and caring enough to pay tribute, in their own way, to those they admire.
Copyright 2001 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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