Gale Astley reports on the greetings card and gift trade: For many years sales of Halloween-related products in the UK have been the skeleton in the cupboard, leaving shop tills rattling and retailers howling as the chilling event of the autumn season left British mortals cold. However today, from out of the darkness, Halloween has risen, shaking off those malignant spirits of yesteryear to become a major cultural event in the UK, with spending on Halloween merchandise expected to exceed £1 billion in 2024.
Pictured top: Threads of Harpenden’s fantastic Halloween display.
And with the spooky occasion offering a thrilling realm of opportunities for both card and gift suppliers and retailers to not only boo-st their coffers but also connect with new customers, greeting card journalist and promo filmmaker, Gale Astley, looks at how this creepy occasion is summoning fresh blood and creativity.
Like a bat out of hell card and gift retailers are entering other worlds when it comes to the Halloween season by tempting a younger generation of consumers into their stores with ghoulish gifts, devilish decorations, creepy cards, wonderfully wicked window and shop displays, perfect for snapping and posting on social media, and spooky community events.
Halloween is a rising consumer trend in the UK, set to make over £1 billion in product sales in 2024, and spending on the spooky event is highest in the 16-35 year-old age group, according to Mintel’s 2023 consumer report, driven by nostalgic memories of pumpkin carving and trick and treat. But Halloween is also a fun time for harnessing the horror and embracing the darker autumnal nights, indulging in some scary movie get-togethers, parties and costumes, opening the smoke-filled creaking door to luring retail sales of Halloween cards and stationery, partyware, decorations, candles, fairy lights and even pet costumes.
“At Loveone I have always enjoyed the autumn season with its change of emphasis to warmer colours, candles, fairy lights and embracing the hygge”, says Cathy Frost, owner of Loveone, Ipswich. “Over the last few years many of our suppliers have been producing Halloween ranges, such as Talking Tables, East End Press and Jellycat, or more autumnal themed items, especially in cards, candles and prints. We have embraced this and have more Halloween/autumn themed items in store this year more than ever! For me it is celebrating the whole season of autumn, with Halloween signalling the end of it. Our greeting cards feature cats in pumpkins, autumn foliage and scary cartoons… something for everyone!”
Above: Loveone’s beautiful autumnal window. Organised by its community of businesses, Loveone is a participating shop in The Saints Ipswich Pumpkin Walk.
As a retail opportunity, Halloween has become increasingly prevalent. Independent retailers are getting gruesome and creating alternative, community-based events around the occasion.
Loveone in Ipswich is a participating shop in The Saints Ipswich Pumpkin Walk: The public take a spooky evening stroll around local stores who display their pumpkin carving skills in a competition – judged by the town’s mayor – to create their eerie efforts.
And each year, Jo Sorrell, owner of Cardies, Stevenage, helps organise a spooktacular Trick or Treat High Street event for Halloween. It’s a great fun PR event which provides a safe daytime environment for children to take part in”, reveals Jo. “We usually have approximately 25 businesses taking part on both sides of our high street, from one end to the other, so encouraging the children, accompanied by the parents, to discover businesses that perhaps they were not aware of. We usually part with approximately 400 treats, one per child, so that’s a lot of potential new customers.
It’s wonderful to see all the children and families enjoying a great community event. Most of the children come in costumes and many of the parents dress up too!”
Freda & Bert in Ely are getting ready for Halloween by decorating its windows and shop displays, and they are a vision. “We’re also creating fun postal Halloween gift boxes for little ones and running an in-store Halloween colouring competition to win a Jellycat pumpkin! We LOVE creating themed displays in the shop and have bought lots of exciting seasonal autumn and Halloween stock, which our customers are loving – we show this stock on our Instagram and create fun seasonal flatlays!” reveals the store’s social media manager, Cait Chapman.
Above: Jo Sorrell’s pooch, Orberry, making sure everyone gets a treat; The Pumpkin Walk flyer; a pumpkin Frankie Nicholas carved for her 3 year-old when he loved horses; When younger, Bold & Bright’s Thea Musselwhite’s daughter (middle) and her son (far left) in Halloween costumes; Cathy Frost, owner of Loveone, in costume as Tippi Hedren in Hitchcock’s film thriller, The Birds; a ghoulish card design with detachable badge from The Black Rabbit.
Halloween is thought to have its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a pagan celebration marking the end of the harvest and the start of winter. A form of trick or treating began later in the 16th century in Scotland and Ireland as a tradition called ‘guising’. Children would don disguises, go house to house and perform for a treat, coins or food.
Today “Halloween seems to be getting more popular year on year!”, says card publisher, Stripey Cats’ Jonathan Crosby, “My sister loved Halloween so there was always a Halloween party to include apple-bobbing and other ghoulish games.
It was penny for the Jack-o’-lantern back in my day (I’m not that old am I?!), carving out a turnip (which was hard going) or pumpkin, sticking a candle inside it and walking round the neighbourhood knocking on doors. We seem to be losing that tradition now, with the more Americanised ‘Trick or Treat’ taking its place.”
For card publishers the Halloween iconography is something to sink their teeth into and appeal to a younger demographic, going bat-ty for adorable ghosts, witches, spiders, black cats, skeletons and a harvest of pumpkins, scribing funny puns to add flesh and bones to the designs.
“Halloween has really taken off because it’s a chance for people to embrace their playful, quirky side. It’s all about fun, creativity and celebrating the weird and wonderful – whether through costumes, parties or the cards they send”, explains Frankie Nicholas from card publisher You’ve Got Pen On Your Face. “Halloween cards are a fun way to break away from the usual holiday greetings and give people a chance to send something unexpected and a bit cheeky, which is exactly what makes it such a hit!”
Above: The purrfect ‘Howloween’ card for Cardies, featuring Jo’s ‘ponks’ (Labradors) from Richarts Designs; a haunting Lionel Richie pun on a card from You’ve Got Pen On Your Face; with glow in the dark googly eyes, Wanda the witch on a Stripey Cats card;the howling and hilarious Halloween collection by Bold & Bright.
Lindsay Marsden, founder of card and printed gift company, The Black Rabbit, feels “as an event Halloween is becoming more popular because, compared to other big days, there are less rules around how it’s celebrated and who you spend it with, allowing creativity to flow with food, costumes, activities and greeting card designs and sends.”
Having the card buying crowds screaming with delight are Stripey Cats’ Googly Eyes Halloween range. Director, Jonathan Crosby, believes: “Our customers are realising that Halloween is being celebrated bigger and better every year, so our cards sit well alongside their other Halloween product.
We have nine Halloween card designs in our collection, featuring glow in the dark googly eyes. They make a great Halloween invitation or birthday card for those whose birthday falls around Halloween and as decoration for spooky gatherings.”
Thea Musselwhite, director of Bold & Bright, imagines people are embracing Halloween more now as it feels like an autumnal celebration, but for her, each year, birthday festivities are also on the cards. “When I was pregnant with my daughter, she was due on Halloween, but she actually arrived the day before. However, I’m sure you can imagine that pretty much every birthday when she was young was Halloween themed!”
So no longer is Halloween all doom and gloom for the card and gift market, it’s fast becoming a howling success!
“We’ve always loved Halloween at Freda & Bert and we’re so glad it’s becoming a growing holiday in the UK! We think it’s definitely becoming more popular each year due to the celebrations in America being showcased more on social media platforms like Instagram – we’ve noticed the general appreciation for the autumn season has grown online”, says Cait Chapman, who manages the shop’s social media. “Halloween is such a fun event for both children and adults, and it gives the opportunity to get creative and socialise with both friends and strangers. It’s not often that comes around!”
Each year, Jo Sorell from Cardies helps organise a spooktacular Trick or Treat High Street event for Halloween; The ‘Night Fright’ illustration on a card from Mandy Sutcliffe represents herself and her twin boys. Below: Freda & Bert in Ely showcases its stock on its Instagram, creating fun, seasonal flatlays such as this Halloween design.
