October is almost upon us, which means Halloween is on our minds — or at least on the minds of retailers.
Over 157 million Americans will take part in Halloween this year and total spending is expected to reach $6.9 billion, down from $7.4 billion last year, according to an annual survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF). Those celebrating plan on spending an average of $74.34, also down from last year's average of $77.52.
"Halloween has been on the upswing in terms of the number of people celebrating and what they're spending, so we've reached a point where people have been stocking up for several years now," NRF spokeswoman Kathy Grannis Allen said. "The average person is content with the amount of merchandise they already have."