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Mid-day Update

Mid-day Extra: This year’s most popular Halloween costumes

Marketplace Staff Oct 31, 2011
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Mid-day Update

Mid-day Extra: This year’s most popular Halloween costumes

Marketplace Staff Oct 31, 2011
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There are always predictions about what the best selling costumes will be every year.

In today’s Mid-day Extra, we decided to go to the source, and call up a few Halloween store owners across the country.

A natural place to start was New York — typically a big party town, but hit by a big winter storm this past weekend.

Nicki Frierson, manager at New York Costume, said that sales were still record breaking despite the snow.

Nicki Frierson: We still had a really busy day regardless of all the snow and the rain we had for that one day. People still came out and bought their costumes — in record numbers.

Top costumes in that market included Black Swan, Angry Birds, and Lady Gaga. A surprising flop? Charlie Sheen.

Next, we wondered how the city most known for another big party fared this time of year, so we called up Rocky Deckert, owner of New Orleans Party and Costume.

She said zombies did surprisingly well this year, but that Halloween is a little different in the Big Easy. Many opt for dressing in one color head to toe.

Rocky Deckert: In New Orleans, we’re known for voodoo, we’re known for vampires because of Anne Rice. So we experience a lot of the traditional Halloween costumes, but the typical person who does create their own costume, who goes for the color, will do that for either Mardi Gras or Halloween. So there’s probably a little bit of a blending of the two.

OK, but what about a place you normally don’t think of as a big Halloween destination… Madison, Wis. perhaps?

Jen Rogalin is manager of Madison Ragstock, and her clientele often mixes and matches vintage pieces to create their own looks. Zombies were also big in her neck of the woods, probably, she thinks, because you can “zombify” any outfit.

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