It's the Saturday before Halloween. The star-covered sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard could crack under the weight of crowds looking to put together their costumes at the last minute.
"It's the busiest day of the season for us," said an associate at Hollywood Toys and Costumes.
It's no surprise: Halloween is the second-biggest decorating holiday of the year, next to Christmas. The National Retail Federation reported in 2006 that more than 74 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds plan to celebrate the holiday and 56 percent plan to dress up. At an average sale of $59 (up $8 from 2001) for 18- to 24-year-olds and $68 for 25- to 34-year-olds, the merry bells of multi-item ring-ups resound.
The fervor for grown-ups playing dress-up is not limited to All Hallow's Eve. Valentine's Day, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, local masquerade balls, festivals, costumed events and dancers call for stores to have costumes on hand year-round. It pays to have a grip on the sexy-costume market, the fastest-growing category in the costume industry.
Women who buy
Women are considered the most enthusiastic costume consumers. Today's woman shopper, according to Dreamgirl International CEO Christoffer Scharff, wants a costume that makes her look and feel great. Generally speaking, she has enough income to afford a quality costume.
However, she has no disposable time and appreciates a costume packaged with accessories. When she perceives the package-which can include an easy-to-navigate store section stocked with costumes and matching accessories-to have a greater value than the price, she'll buy.
Forplay, for example, offers bundled costumes that are an easy grab-and-go option. Other costume manufacturers, like Hustler Lingerie, make quality costumes that are meant to be hung on hangers, but they supply the basic accessories for convenience and continuity.
The plus-size market
Since curvier women also are drawn to fun and fantasy, the plus-size market should not be overlooked. Manufacturers are seeing an upswing in the plus-size market; on the whole, the market is doing unbelievable business. Coquette International is selling more big, beautiful costumes every year, Dreamgirl offers plus-size variations on many themes, and Shirley of Hollywood's Intimate Attitudes line of intimate apparel and costumes is dedicated to more voluptuous women.
"I think manufacturers are starting to realize that plus-size women want to get sexy for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day," said Janelle R. Jackson, owner of Big Gals Lingerie. She advises retailers to stock styles that are "bra-friendly" and "made from stretchy materials" and carry more risqué styles, since "us plus-size girls want to wear them, too."
Jackson said Big Gals has strong costume sales throughout the year. "I know other women like to play dress-up," she said after calling it a pleasure of hers. For women who need just the right fit, the answer could be custom-made costumes, which Big Gals offers to customers up to size 12X. Alternatively, the Internet, where options are endless, is a go-to place for buying plus-size sexy costumes.
The demand is there, but not all retailers have good sales. Hollywood-based boutique Bizzy B keeps one plus-size rack and usually will "only break even," according to co-owner Shawn Prochazka.
Jacques Maurice, an apparel consultant at Fairvilla, agreed. "That's not our core customer," he said. "We've experimented with styles and sizes and dedicating areas of the store, but we don't see the volumes of sales."
Jackson made a recommendation for stores seeking to cater to all sizes: "Treat us like you would any other customer, and you'll have a customer for life."
The male customer
Men, on the other hand, generally are a smaller, less adventurous market. They are perceived as needing a guiding hand when shopping. The biggest sales for men are in couples' costumes, which many manufacturers offer. Coquette International saw great results in 2007 with its golfer and caddy, Bavarian beer girl and beer guy, and NASCAR-inspired couple.
"Men typically aren't costume-in-a-bag kind of people," said Maurice of Fairvilla. "You have to get more creative and create looks and find out what they're willing to wear. A lot more customer service is involved. We'll pull together four costumes and piece them together. They are looking for easy stuff: a gladiator plate or a kilt, a cool hat to wear. Basically, something they can wear with their flip flops or something they already own."
On the flip side, it's not uncommon for a gent to shop for his lady's costume. Jackson said about 20 percent of Big Gals' costume sales come from men buying for their women, and 5 percent are men buying for themselves. Scharff of Dreamgirl also mentioned this little-known fact about male consumers and the plus-size market.
The styles
The intimate-apparel companies Coquette International and Shirley of Hollywood have increased their sexy-costume lines dramatically in the past five years. Shirley's business and collection, according to International Sales Director Eric Schlobohm, has "doubled in size annually." Erica Morgan, a customer-service representative at Coquette, said, "There's an increasing demand every year, and we offer more styles every year. This year, we have 300 different costumes. To keep customers coming back, we offer a changing variety, but we do carry over popular styles."
Classic themes, such as devils, witches, nurses, schoolgirls and pirates-especially pirates-are reigning favorites. The M.O. for adult is "sexy and sexier," according to Debra Peterson, director of marketing for Florida-based Fairvilla Megastores. "There's a big push for two-piece costumes," added Maurice, the company's apparel consultant. Flirty details like petticoats, matching hats, realistic badges, matching panties and emblems are increasingly common items included with costumes.
Peterson and Maurice said variety is important: "Once customers have seen a costume a couple of times, we switch it up. We have to go see what's new and find new variations of staples. We go to Halloween shows, and the manufacturers are coming to us earlier, too, [and] sending us catalogs earlier. We see what's hot on their list [and] what's hot in the media and in pop culture. Manufacturers are asking us what we want to see, too, and we find out from our staff what people are looking for. More and more, the communication is open and flowing both ways."
Scharff at Dreamgirl said the decision to continue carrying a costume is solely based on the market: "If it sells, we bring it out again." As a leader in contemporary costumes, Dreamgirl offers items that are topical and directly influenced by pop culture and the modern woman. Hence, its featured collections include Women Who Work, Co-ed Cuties, military-inspired Weapons of Mass Seduction and cocktail-inspired Happy Hour Hotties. Many of these themes have male counterparts.
Primrose Boon, the merchandising manager at Forplay, said, "The important factor that is involved in the decision-making of continued and discontinued styles is the interest and response we are getting from our markets from each design. Our merchandise plan for each Halloween season is dependent on the sell-through and available production we have to offer. Due to our fashion-forward styles, it is important to keep up with ever-changing fashion trends and create brand-new styles you see in everyday wear and on the runways to appeal to our target customer: She is stylish and keen to explore new styles and trends."
Merchandising and display
It's one thing to have a well-stocked store, but how do arrange your store so that your customers know what a great selection of costumes you have? Boon at Forplay suggests creating themed displays and placing complementary intimate-apparel items and accessories in that area. "Some customers know what they want; others need guidance," Beatrice Prochazka said. "Give them ideas, with your displays, on how to dress with attitude and personality for their body type. Also, it seems anything on a mannequin will sell." Dressing the window and the mannequins in group themes is another way to inspire customers' creativity.
When promoting holiday costumes, don't be shy about letting the costumes dominate your sales floor. Hang costumes on attention-grabbing, outward-facing displays. If customers haven't thought of dressing up for Christmas before, your displays may be their inspiration, as will letting them know that sexy-costume manufacturers place a premium on quality because the costumes will be used more than once. Additionally, order is vital to an easy shopping experience. Bizzy B places high importance on keeping racks organized and making sure the price and size are clearly visible, even if that means manually writing the information on the tags.
In terms of selection, Scharff recommends stocking several styles of the same theme in each of your meaningful price points. Dreamgirl offers variations on themes that are suited to women of all shapes and sizes. With the wide selection in the market, no woman should be denied the pleasure of a costume theme based on the cut or fit. Sizing with costumes varies. S, M, L, small/medium, medium/large, one size and one size XL are the most common, in that costume fabrics tend to have a lot of give and therefore are rather forgiving.
Accessories
As women of style know, there are two things that make an outfit really shine: confidence and great accessories. Keep an assortment of playful accessories, embellishments, hosiery, intimate apparel, shoes and makeup. Accessories tend to have a higher markup and can increase your profit margin. Once a customer finds the perfect fit in the perfect style, the right hosiery, a lacy bra, matching ruffled panties and costume-specific shoes make the costume her own. As Boon at Forplay said, "The costume creates the theme, but the lingerie peeking through will give it sex appeal." In this sense, intimate apparel becomes an integral part of skin-baring looks.
Year-round business
Fairvilla's Key West store is a prime example of a retailer that benefits from stocking costumes year-round. In the area, there are a number of celebrations-like Oktoberfest and a festival week early in October that boasts pimp-and-ho parties, pajama parties, a "green party" and themed events hosted by a college-that stimulate a desire for sexy costumes.
To be a mainstay in this market, the store maintains involvement in the community. "We have appearances in the store four times a year," Peterson said. "Every other year, we do a ladies' night where we bring in manufacturers and vendors so they can talk directly to the consumer. When a gay-entertainment publication launched a special issue, we hosted an in-store preview party." The store also runs strategic ads and pays attention to what the local radio stations are promoting. For example, when a Key West disc jockey was hyping a beer festival, Fairvilla responded by making it known that it had beer hats and sexy beer-related costumes.
Dancers and the service industry are two other valuable year-round customer bases. In response to their sexy-costume collections for the general consumer, Hustler Lingerie and Coquette receive special orders from clubs and restaurants looking to outfit their staffs in sexy uniforms. For retailers that, like Bizzy B, are located in areas densely populated by dancers and entertainers, the sexy costume is a staple. For these markets, stocking higher-quality costumes is important, as the wearers will shimmy, shake and strut in them in venues where presentation is key.
"L.A. people stock up for the year during Halloween," Shawn Prochazka noted. "It gets extremely competitive when holiday shops pop up for a month. It's a constant battle to keep the customer happy. Nothing is better marketing than good customer service and word-of-mouth."
