Shoppers at major retailers including Home Depot, Lowe’s and Target are being inundated with Halloween decorations months ahead of the spooky holiday, earlier than ever before, as stores try to boost sales.
Michaels, the arts and crafts chain with more than 1,300 stores across North America, is one retailer to have jumped on the “Summerween” trend, announcing last week that it will be selling Halloween-themed decorations and supplies starting at the end of July and running through the holiday season.
The company is based in Irving, Texas. The company: On Halloween’s growing popularity among Gen Z and millennials as they begin their holiday shopping.
“We know that many of our customers start decorating as soon as Independence Day passes and look forward to their first Halloween sales, which they’re calling #CodeOrange,” John Gehle, Michaels’ chief merchandising officer, told Axios.
Home Depot began selling holiday decorations, including a 12-foot skeleton, in April. According to the news site Axios.
Several big box stores, including Costco, HomeGoods and Sam’s Club, are setting up special sections selling a variety of candy in an attempt to make an early profit.
Candy sales last year totaled $6.4 billion, more than half of the $12.2 billion spent on Halloween, according to the National Confectioners Association.
Retailers have taken notice of a recent social media trend called “Summerween,” in which influencers post videos of Halloween-themed parties they host in the middle of summer.
The term “Summerween” was first used in the Disney Channel animated mystery series Gravity Falls, which tells the story of a fictional Oregon town where locals love Halloween so much that they decide to celebrate it twice a year.
Earlier this year, a TikTok user created a mashup video combining quotes from characters in Gravity Falls talking about Halloween with the Pet Shop Boys song “West End Girls.”
Halloween isn’t the only holiday where shoppers can start shopping early.
Chains including Home Depot, JC Penney and Target have already begun selling Christmas-themed items such as trees, lights and ornaments.
