Halloween Sales up at Melody?s

Steve Melody said on Oct. 22 that sales of Halloween items at his two gift stores in Fayetteville’s Northwest Arkansas Mall were up when compared to the same time last year.

Sales of decorative Halloween items had increased by 10 percent, and costume sales were up 3-5 percent, he said. Both of Melody’s stores are named Melody’s Choices, but one is called The Fun Store and the other is The Gift Store.

Melody said Halloween sales were dampened last year because of the September 11 terrorism. This year, Melody said his stores appear to be “seeing a return to normalcy.”

Melody said he hopes the good Halloween sales bode well for the Christmas season, which can account for half of annual revenue at many gift shops.

At the end of July, Melody closed his store on at 414 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville. He is now leasing that building to Dave Bass, who renovated it and opened a club called 4-14 there. Melody said his stores in the mall were more profitable for retail than the Dickson Street location.

Nationally, however, consumers plan to spend 42 percent less this year on Halloween, according to a survey by the International Mass Retail Association, a retail trade group. The survey, conducted Oct. 11-13, said consumers planned to spend an average of $35 on Halloween this year, down from $61 a year ago.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Oct. 14 that Halloween sales in all categories were below plan, although October same-store sales were on schedule to rise 2-4 percent.