Party City Will Open 91 Percent Less Halloween Pop-Up Stores

Words by Luhar Singh

Party City Will Open 91 Percent Less Halloween Pop Up Stores
Party City Will Open 91 Percent Less Halloween Pop Up Stores

Consumers spent close to $9 billion shopping for spooky costumes and decor on Halloween last year, but this time around, things are looking a little bleak.

Party City, which typically opens up Halloween City pop-up stores across the country plans to open just 25 this year, which is 91 percent less than the 275 stores the company opened last year. 

The company is not only just opening fewer stores, but it is also not expecting much demand for Halloween products online. The company said that it plans to hire 20,000 temporary workers for the upcoming Halloween season, which is 20 percent lower than last year.

While the company is anticipating less demand, it is still working on offering omnichannel shopping features to its buyers as consumers at large are avoiding shopping in-store and are instead preferring options such as curbside pickup. The company plans to have four to five additional store associates at each location to support shoppers ordering from different channels.

“More customers are choosing our omnichannel options like buy online pickup in store, contactless curbside pickup, and our new same-day delivery services,” a Party City spokesperson told Retail Dive. “With the additional associates in our stores we can ensure a seamless experience for however you choose to create your Halloween celebration.”

While the National Retail Federation (NRF) expects Halloween spending to reach $8 billion this year, it appears that fewer consumers are looking to engage in typical holiday festivities. According to a recent report by NRF, 10 percent fewer consumers plan to throw or attend a Halloween party this year, 7 percent fewer plan to visit a haunted house, 7 percent fewer plan to hand out candy and 6 percent fewer plan to go trick-or-treating, Retail Dive reported.

Instead, there’s more interest in decorating homes, with 4 percent more consumers planning to do so.

It is perhaps not surprising that retailers such as Party City are being cautious in their planning for the upcoming holiday and are scaling back their budgets.

“So even though we see it down, we’re planning Halloween, we’re really just trying to avoid overspending against potentially decreased demand,” said Party City’s CEO Bradley Weston. “But I would say the situation is really fluid, and we have to be fluid.” 

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