Michaels and Primary see sales bump by catering to shoppers looking for DIY Halloween costumes
From Labubus to K-Pop Demon Hunters, the Halloween costume concierge department at Primary has been extra busy this year helping parents come up with DIY costume plans.
The 10-year-old children’s clothing brand is known for its brightly colored separates, and its sales typically peak in mid- to late October, thanks to parents looking to create costumes out of joggers, leggings, tees and hoodies. To help guide their purchases, Primary offers a Halloween landing page that’s populated with over 500 costume ideas, including classics like ghosts and unicorns, as well as trendy icons like Taylor Swift and Lilo & Stitch.
And for the extra-niche requests, Primary has a free costume concierge service to walk parents through how to make unusual visions come to life. This year has seen over 250 requests so far, including a soft pretzel, a garbage truck and an astronaut who likes to fish.
In a macro environment where families are cutting back, Primary is seeing an early surge in activity: Halloween apparel and DIY basics like its joggers and tees have yielded $3.5 million in sales, up 30% year-over-year. That figure includes Halloween-themed items and pajamas that are up 80% over last year.
“We’ve heard from a lot of parents that they love using Primary as the basis of DIY Halloween costumes, because we offer so many colors that are really hard to find elsewhere,” said co-founder Galyn Bernard. “But Halloween also goes with our whole mission around sustainability and not wanting spend $60 on some costume that’s going to go in the garbage. You can just take the DIY additions off, and they can rewear all the clothes they got for Halloween.”
Brands and retailers this year are seeing a surge in demand around DIY Halloween costumes. While some shoppers may be motivated to save money, others are looking for a more sustainable route than buying something they may only use once.
Overall, Halloween spending is projected to total a record $13.1 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Around 71% of those surveyed plan to spend money on costumes, reaching around $4.3 billion in spending.
Katie Thomas, head of the Kearney Consumer Institute, said Halloween can lead to a bump in traffic to thrift stores, as well as platforms like Etsy and Whatnot. Trending topics — whether “K-Pop Demon Hunters” or “White Lotus” characters — may not have hit the zeitgeist in time for pre-made costumes to get prepared and on shelves.
“TikTok has really fueled more creativity,” Thomas said. “People used to want to go really obvious. Now, people don’t mind going niche. So, we’ve seen more diversification and going back to some of that DIY, or at-home costumes, instead of buying something easy.”
Michaels, fresh off a major acquisition of fabric and sewing brands from Joann, is also seeing a DIY surge. A survey of 1,000 Michaels customers found 60% of people planned to DIY their costumes, up from 53% last year. Chuck Smith, svp and general merchandise manager at Michaels, said the survey also found 63% said they plan to DIY Halloween items this year in order to save money. But there’s also the “feel-good moment” of making something yourself and showing it off, he said.
“People want to be able to express themselves personally,” he said. “Sometimes there isn’t that perfect option on the shelf, and being able to DIY your own costume — whether it’s inspired by something else or a fun mashup — gives them that freedom.”
Behind the scenes, Michaels is seeing added demand for DIY costuming, thanks to the integration of Joann and its sewing and knitting business. “Timing is everything,” he said. “By expanding into these categories, we’ve piqued customers’ interest to come in and see what we offer.”
So far, Michaels’ fabric sales are up 270%, compared to last year, with sales bumps in items like foam, fiber fill, fusible webbing, sewing kits and zippers. Searches on its website for “Halloween fabric” are up 290% since last year, with a 128% increase for “DIY Halloween.” And that could increase as the holiday gets closer; Smith, who spoke with Modern Retail in mid-October, said the peak demand tends to arrive in the two weeks before Halloween.
Over at Primary, the DIY costume page has seen more than 200,000 site visits.
To further lean into the demand, Primary employs a professional crafter to serve as a “costume concierge” to answer customer inquiries around very specific visions — including brand-specific nods, like a Dyson vacuum or a McDonald’s snack wrap. The free service is promoted on the Halloween landing page, and customers can send in their inquiries via email, text or phone call.
Costume concierge requests also end up fueling some of Primary’s best-performing social content. Instructions for a DIY butterfly has yielded over 111,800 views and counting, plus there have been over 10,000 views on a Labubu how-to video.
“Halloween is a fun and different time for us to promote our business in a different way,” Bernard said. “We have a lot of fun with that across our core channels, because we’re able to promote that DIY costume opportunity.”