Troubled Retailers Face a Halloween Crunch With Consumers Spending Less

  • Holiday spending is forecast to drop by 5% this year
  • At Home and Michaels hope to grow their slice of expenditure
Spending for Halloween will drop by 5% this year.Photographer: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Getty Images
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A predicted slide in Halloween consumption is the latest blow for heavily-indebted retailers battling mounting overheads and the trend of consumers trading down to cheaper products.

US spending for the holiday will drop by 5% to $11.6 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Sales of greeting cards and costumes are likely to see the greatest decline, a hit to merchants reliant on seasonal splurges in what’s already been a tough year for the industry.