Home Depot’s 12-Foot Skeletons Spawned an Industry of Giant Halloween Decor
Skelly has helped set sales records for the home improvement giant every year since its release in 2020. Its invention was a stroke of inspiration.
When Lance Allen took over strategy for Home Depot Inc.’s holiday merchandising team in late 2018, he set his sights on disrupting the $12 billion Halloween market.
At the time, Home Depot and its competitors were all selling similar versions of the same decorations: 18-inch spiders with LED lights, human-size zombie figures and inflatable movie characters, among other spooky wares. Looking for something new, Allen, who started his career at Home Depot selling power tools, got busy with his team, visiting haunted houses, late-night horror events at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and Halloween trade shows.