Business & Tech

Halloween Costumes for 2012, What's Hot

Halloween has become a major retail event in America - consumers are expected to spend as much as $8 billion in 2012.

Consumer spending on Halloween costumes, decorations and candy is expected to rise this year as a record 170 million people are projected to spend as much as $8 billion.

According to the National Retail Federation, 71.5 percent of Americans will be in the haunting mood this year - up from 68.6 percent in 2011. The NRF's survey found that the average person is expected to spend $79.82 on decorations, costumes and candy, up from $72.31 last year.

Jennifer Adams, store manager at Party City in Whitehall, said Halloween is now second only to Christmas as far as retail holiday spending is concerned.

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If you haven't started shopping yet it's not too late. .

Some of the best sellers for kids' costumes this year at Party City are Monster High. In fact, Adams said it's been that way for the past three years.

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Monster High is a line of toys from Mattel that features the children of well known monsters. Kids can choose from names like Draculara and Frank E. Stein.

Traditional super hero costumes and Disney Princess outfits are also popular - anything based on blockbuster movies and popular culture ranks up there as well.

Adams said anything related to zombies is also flying off the shelves as people plan "End of the World" parties and zombie costumes.

For men, Adams said the morph suit - think Blue Men outfit - is a popular costume. A new, less frilly Disney Princess costume for women has also been popular.

"Things are trending similarly to last year," Adams said. "The only difference will be that we hopefully won't have the snow storm."


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