HALIFAX- As children across Canada prepare to celebrate Halloween this weekend, costume stores including The Glow Halloween Store in Halifax are seeing an increase in demand for trendy costumes.
Store supervisor Melissa Landry says despite selling hundreds of costumes there are three items that are the hot sellers this Halloween season.
“Toy Story is one of the big ones because there was a new movie out, and Harry Potter because it is the 25th anniversary this year for the movie,” said Landry. “And Super Mario because there is a new movie out for that too.”
Yearly, without fail, Landry said shoppers typically wait until the final few days before Halloween to buy their costumes, which means the store is now getting busier by the hour.
“It has now picked up increasingly through the day, and the nighttime are super slammed for us right now,” said Landry.
Choosing a costume
12-year-old Jordan Peterson, while on lunch break from school, tried on several costumes before deciding on what to wear on Halloween.
“I am being Bonnie from Five Nights at Freddy’s,” Peterson said, describing the characters from the indie media franchise. “My older friend is going to be Springtrap, which is yellow, so he is being the yellow one, and I am being the purple one.”
“It is one of my favourite holidays, just after Christmas,” Peterson said.
Young shopper Annabelle Laing went to the store with more than just Halloween to celebrate.
“Today is my birthday, and I am 11,” she said. “I want to dress up as deer for Halloween.”
School bus driver Chris Peterson has rules of the road to abide by as a driver, but he eventually chose a simple costume that the students hopefully would appreciate.
“You are limited to what you can wear if it doesn’t affect your driving,” he said. “So, I’m going with the vampire fangs.”
Halloween generates business
According to retail analyst Bruce Winder, from a commercial standpoint, Halloween has grown to appeal to people of all ages and because of that, it generates a lot of business in Canada, creating more than $1 billion in retail sales.
“It has morphed into more than just a children’s event now to adults going to lavish parties and spending several hundred dollars and buying or renting outfits for these parties,” said Winder.
The Glow Halloween Store in Halifax is a seasonal pop-up that will close in November after Halloween. Its large sales floor is packed with costumes and decorations, and Landry said she expects many of those items to sell over the next several days as the pre-Halloween rush continues.
