With the dust now settled on Halloween 2020, suppliers have been able to take a look at how the season performed for them. Boland’s UK agent Mark Brett outlines the highs and lows of this year’s Halloween and what’s in store for the rest of 2020.
How did Halloween sales perform for you this year?
“If you are asking from our pre-March projections then poorly, if the question is asked from a post-April perspective, then a whole lot better than expected.”
Entering the Halloween season with adjusted expectations was key this year – did 2020 meet your revised projections?
“Having just said it was way above expectations, the reality is I had no expectations – we could not make any judgement at that time. There was the belief that it may be all over by summer in some quarters, but I was of the view that even if it had had been, there would be still a lot of anxiousness with the consumer. My expectations aside, I am more interested in how my customer base fared, and in the main while there was obvious disappointment from most that while Halloween was not as it should have been, there was a sense of relief that it went ahead at all – albeit in a more restricted manner. Most customers – especially party bricks and mortar stores – did not buy big amounts and were able to move stock on from last year. I feel really sorry for those operating under much tougher environments, such as retailers in Wales and Southern Ireland.”
In terms of products, which were your biggest sellers this season?
“The Creepy Pumpkin disposable tableware sold extremely well, as did some of our animatronic decorations which was a pleasant surprise but with hindsight shouldn’t have been.”
What will you take away from Halloween 2020?
“In one sense nothing! That is to say I hope that what we have experienced and consequently learnt wont happen again, so whatever is learnt is useless because we will never have to experience it again! On a more sensible note, the resilience, innovation and hard work executed by a number of our good party shops. Some of them have created channels of sale that will stand them in good stead going forward.”
How is the rest of the year looking for you now?
“We will probably sell less Trump masks but I think most us will be pretty pleased with that one small negative! Despite the lack of hospitality trade, Christmas and New Year could well be better than usual for the party stores as I think families will make both these events a big focus, no matter how small the party may be. As with Halloween the focus will be on home parties. Beyond that we have the delights of Brexit and who knows what that may bring – apart from short-term chaos!”
