Halloween pet costumes popular with millennials
KNOXVILLE — Americans are likely to spend $9 billion on Halloween this year, nearly equaling last year’s record, according to the National Retail Federation. With that spending, people are finding new holiday-themed items to buy — which retailers are eager to sell them.
One rapidly growing trend is dressing up animals like other animals. Or like vegetables, or fictional characters: Halloween costumes for pets.
“Halloween costumes sell really well, actually,” said Lisa Wegman, associate lead with keys at PetSmart in University Commons.
More than 31 million Americans plan to dress up their pets, and the owners most likely to do so are millennials, according to Philip Rist, executive vice president of Prosper Insights & Analytics. On behalf of the NRF, Prosper surveyed nearly 7,000 people in September about their holiday shopping plans.
Nearly 20 percent of the 175 million Americans celebrating Halloween will dress up their pets, an increase from last year’s 16 percent, according to a Prosper news release.
That’s the most in the history of NRF’s Halloween surveys, Rist said in
the announcement.
In an era of elaborate cosplay for humans, basic pet costumes aren’t terribly expensive. At PetSmart, butterfly wings and little cowboy hats are $9.97, while full-body costumes run in the $16.99 to $18.99 range. But those are already markdown prices: Costumes arrived Aug. 12 and went on sale a couple of weeks before Halloween, Wegman said.
There is still a rack of hats, wings, collars and full outfits near the front of the store — near displays of other pet clothing, including orange UT gear — but PetSmart condensed its Halloween section Oct. 22 to make room for arriving Christmas items, manager Tanner Bradford said.
What’s hot
Furry teddy bear outfits are popular this year, but that’s new, Wegman said.
“The hot costume is always, always a pumpkin,” she said.
Wegman is right, according to NRF. Surveyors found 11.2 percent of pet costume buyers plan to dress up their animals as pumpkins, making it the most popular pet costume out there. The next-most-popular types are hot dog, bumblebee, devil and cat.
That’s generally borne out at Pet Supplies Plus on Kingston Pike, according to shift leader Emily Rogers. Shark, banana and taco costumes went first, but pumpkin, hot dog, lobster and superhero costumes moved well too, she said. On the rack near the door one hot dog costume was left, hidden behind a banana.
“People seem to be buying the ‘Star Wars’ stuff more often than last year,” Rogers said. Pet Supplies Plus still had Yoda ears available but was sold out of Chewbacca outfits.
Numbers game
Halloween spending is far behind Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day — even behind graduation gifts (but ahead of Super Bowl parties), according to the NRF survey. Though dollar totals keep mounting, the ranking hasn’t changed in at least a couple of years.
“The economy is good and consumer confidence is high, so families are ready to spend on Halloween this year,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a news release.
Shoppers plan to spend an average $86.79 on Halloween goods, according to the survey. Ninety-five percent of them will buy candy, 74 percent will buy decorations, 68 percent will spend on costumes, and 35 percent plan to buy Halloween greeting cards, the survey found. That’s $2.6 billion on candy, $2.7 billion on decorations, $3.2 billion on costumes and $400 million in greeting cards.
Now is the time to get pet costumes, since they’re already being marked down, Rogers said. Most at Pet Supplies Plus are now $13.98 instead of $24.88. Licensed-character costumes aren’t discounted that much, but they’re still on sale, she said.
“Right now they’re about as low as they’re going to get because it’s almost Halloween,” Rogers said.
But why?
Many pet owners who are dressing up for Halloween themselves also will get costumes for their pets, Gardner said.
Most often, that will be younger people who own small dogs, she said.
Some costume purchases are impulse buys, but most owners plan to bring in their pets to ensure they are getting the right size, Bradford said.
“We haven’t seen a lot of returns or anything of that nature,” Bradford said.
Just about everything locally available will be intended only for dogs, or maybe cats, Wegman said, but Bradford said PetSmarts in bigger cities do have a range for other small mammals.
“Our larger stores carry costumes cut for guinea pigs even,” Bradford said.
Wegman said she think the rationale for pet costumes is split between trickor-treating in association with children — matching or complementing the kids’ costumes — and attending Halloween events and costume contests.
Rogers said a few customers told her they just want to take pictures of their pet in a costume. But her own Chihuahua-beagle mix will be dressed as a lobster or hot dog when Rogers hands out candy to trick-or-treaters. Even the brief enjoyment is worth the price for many people, she said.
“It’s always the fun, gimmicky stuff,” Rogers said. “You can take a picture and post it on Instagram and be like ‘Hey, look, my dog’s a lobster.’ ”