Not that long ago Halloween was still just a kids holiday where they dressed up, went door to door and scored sweet treats. The big winners where the candy industry, battery companies and the kid costume business (remember those plastic outfits with the plastic mask) Now, Halloween has been hijacked by adults and the industry makes over $8 Billion a year, yes that’s Billion with a “B”.

For the past 12 years or so Halloween has moved from a kids holiday to an adult event, just look around the store. A few years ago there were two Halloween isles. One that had candy, flashlights & batteries and some sort of bag or jack-o-lantern to get you treats in. The other was full of kid’s costumes, either those plastic suits with a pull over plastic mask or for the big bucks a real kids costume. The ones they would wear for a couple of months, even to school if you would let them.

Now, Halloween is big business. Most stores have at least three isles for Halloween. One for all the candy, flashlights, jack-o-lanterns and half an isle for the kid’s costumes. The rest is for the adult costumes, mask and makeup and house decorations. There are even stores that specialize just in Halloween.

Every pub and club now has a big Halloween party, yes even 95 Rock gets into the act as we host an annual party at the Mesa Theater. The beer companies have taken notice of this. They now have big ad campaigns around Halloween. A few years ago the only beer ad’s you would see in October would have been for football. Hell, even the home improvement stores get into the act as they now carry those big blow-up decorations.

I personally think this is a great thing, I know the kids feel like we have hijacked their holiday and we have. But, think of it like this. Instead of people spending a million or maybe two on Halloween we now spend over $8 Billion. That is money we spend in our local economy and when you add that to the rest of the holiday spending which follows Halloween, well you do the math. So, get out and have fun this Halloween season and don’t forget to let the kids have some fun.

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