Summer’s not over, but Halloween decor, autumn goods have arrived in Central KY
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- Lexington retailers shifted to fall merchandise immediately after Labor Day.
- Nearly $4 billion in fall decor spending by U.S. consumers was expected in 2024.
- Early Halloween shopping is increasing, with 47% buying before October last year.
Autumn doesn’t arrive until Sept. 22, but that hasn’t stopped Lexington-area stores or shoppers from welcoming ghouls, goblins, scary costumes and pumpkins.
Lots and lots of pumpkins.
As soon as Labor Day hit, major retailers in the area like Target, Walmart, Marshalls, Hobby Lobby and others pulled down their back-to-school displays, replacing them with all things Halloween, harvest-inspired, orange-colored and pumpkin spice-scented.
The area’s Spirit Halloween locations are opening, too, offering shoppers enough cobwebs and costumes to make the scary season memorable.
Make no mistake: Autumn is big business. National shopping trend experts predict seven in 10 Americans plan to participate in Halloween celebrations this year.
Last year, the National Retail Federation projected U.S. consumers would spend nearly $104 each in the lead-up to Halloween, less than what they’d likely spend on Easter and Valentine’s Day, but more than what they’d spend celebrating the Fourth of July and St. Patrick’s Day.
What’s a big chunk of the spending? Why, candy, of course.
National retail sources say the average family spending on Halloween candy was $31.93 in 2023, remained close to $32-$35 in 2024, and is similarly estimated to be around $32-$35 for 2025.
About half of consumers surveyed by Prosper Insights & Analytics for the retail group’s spending data said they were opening their wallet to decorate. The National Retail Federation projected nearly $4 billion would be spent in 2024 on fall decorations.
Early Halloween shopping is on the rise, according to that same spending data for last year’s season, a phenomenon likely happening this fall in and around Lexington if store displays and shopping carts in check out lanes are any indication.
The National Retail Federation found 47% of consumers surveyed were beginning their shopping before October, up from 37% five years ago.
Half of those who planned to shop early last year said they were doing it because they were looking forward to the fall season.
“Halloween marks the official transition to the fall season for many Americans, and consumers are eager to get a jump on purchasing seasonal decor and other autumnal items,” said Katharine Cullen the federation’s Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights alongside last year’s data projects. “Retailers are prepared to meet this early demand by offering shoppers all the holiday essentials to make this year’s celebrations memorable.”
The National Retail Federation hasn’t released projections for spending totals in 2025. But based on data from the Federal Reserve and its survey of consumer finance, Moody’s, a leading financial analytics company, said higher-income earning households were still spending and keeping pace with inflation in the year’s second quarter ending in June.
Overall though, consumer optimism about the economy has been steadily declining since November 2024, according to McKinsey & Company, a business management consulting firm.
Rising prices are the leading concern and across income groups, there’s a growing sense of caution that could mean families spend less on discretionary purchases, such as home improvement supplies, furniture and decorations.
Nearly half of consumers surveyed as part of the McKinsey data said they plan to keep their holiday spending in line with last year’s, and about one-third of them said they would be shopping almost entirely online.
Those shopping in person in Central Kentucky have been treated already this season to in-store deals and a plethora of holiday goods. What might shoppers expect?
High on the list: Anything you could dream to be pumpkin-shaped. That includes puzzles, picture frames, mugs, candles, beads for homemade crafts. And so much more.
In Spirit Halloween, the seasonal retailer, there’s skulls aplenty on the same shelves as string lights shaped like bats and plastic gravestones meant for a front yard display.
Spirit Halloween is operating two stores in Lexington: one in Fayette Mall in the former Party City next to Half Price Books and the other in Hamburg in the former Big Lots between Dick’s Sporting Goods and Kohl’s.
Want to create a cozier vibe? Several stores have seasonal blankets patterned with apples, leaves, pieces of pumpkin pie, black cats, ghosts and more.
Many shoppers in Marshalls and HomeGoods didn’t leave without a new candle on a post Labor Day shopping spree..
The front wall of Hobby Lobby in the Brannon Crossing shopping center in Nicholasville is covered floor to ceiling in red, orange and yellow leaf wreaths, scarecrows and pumpkin paraphernalia. The store’s enclosed entryway is reminiscent of a day spent pumpkin picking with scarecrows sitting on hay bales guarded by crows.
And on the very top of shelves in Hobby Lobby, only accessible by ladder, are hints of what’s next: The store’s stash of faux poinsettias, the red and green flowering plant widely used in Christmas floral displays and decorations.
Forget Halloween: Christmas is coming.
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