Why Your Club Should Go All-Out this Halloween

The National Retail Federation is predicting spending on Halloween-related items “to reach an all-time high of $10.14 billion, up from $8.05 billion in 2020.” Here’s how your club can take advantage of the festivity.

Celebrating holidays is nothing new. Every year — the recent pandemic years are an exception, of course — many clubs host celebrations ranging from Fourth of July cookouts cook-outs to Christmas cookie bake-offs.

However, the start of this year’s fall season is seeming to enthrall consumers far more than in previous years, most likely due to the pandemic.

According Shane O’Neill, a contributor to the New York Times, “This fall season feels, somehow, even more seasonal than in years past. Google searches for ‘season’ are at a high, with users recasting events large and small as seasons unto themselves.” This includes celebrating the start of “spooky” season, “pumpkin spice” season and more.

O’Neill contributes this increased festivity to the pandemic and months of quarantine, isolation and sadness. With this in mind, he writes, “perhaps it’s not surprising that seasonal devotion has seeped into the lexicon.”

As a result, this year may be a great year for your facility to go all-out for Halloween, taking advantage of consumers’ pent-up need to celebrate and rejoice in yearly traditions.

For evidence, look no further than this year’s Halloween sales predictions, with the National Retail Federation predicting spending on Halloween-related items “to reach an all-time high of $10.14 billion, up from $8.05 billion in 2020.”

Keeping these projections and insights in mind, here are a few ideas for how your club can take advantage of this festive trend:

• Turn part of your club into a “haunted house,” and open it up to the community.
• Host a trick-or-treat party and have different departments pass out candy to members.
• Encourage staff to dress up for Halloween. And if you’re the leader, be sure to take part.
• Feature pumpkin-spice flavored specials at your café or juice bar.

Many of these ideas won’t necessarily generate revenue but will serve as community builders for your business after 18 months of uncertainty.

“Consumer spending aside, embracing seasons offers a chance to inject levity into casual conversations and social media discourse,” wrote O’Neill. “It’s an easy way for people to bond over their shared enthusiasms.”

Interested in spooky tales from the gym? Check-out our “Gym Horror Story” series featuring scary tales from the gym, including “The Nude Cyclist” and “The Unmentionable Fiasco.”