Retail stores are pulling out the black and orange decorations as early as mid-August in some areas. Why have stores begun to put such a focus on this minor children's holiday?

Because Halloween is not just for kids anymore.

A recent National Retail Federation survey found that 82 percent of children plan to dress up to attend parties or to go trick-or-treating. That comes as no surprise.

That about 73 percent of adults also plan to participate in a Halloween activity, up from 65 percent in 1998, may be news to you, but it does explain some of the fuss over the spooky celebration.
Halloween has become a more adult-oriented holiday in the last decade says James Lowry, a Ball State University retail marketing expert. Adults have increased sales of costumes, candy, lawn decorations and other scary merchandise. Decorating stores with ghosts, goblins, witches and pumpkins as early as August is a blatant attempt to get the jump on the competition. It seems to be working.

Grownups may have started dressing in costumes to keep their little ones safe, but the trend caught on and gets bigger every year. Costumes and decorations fuel sales that amounted to more than $5 billion in 2001and jumped to more than $6.9 billion in 2002, according to several retail organizations.

The only time of year that generates more adult parties is New Year's Eve. Universal Studios in Hollywood and Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA both host adults-only horror haunting nights. The Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in New York City draws ghouls and goblins who dress as lawyers and stockbrokers in the daytime

What is the attraction? "Halloween is a good time to dress up and be someone else for awhile," Lowry said.

-Source: Chiff.com

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