Stores
Ready to Spring Into Easter - Passover Season
Springtime
Fashions, Treats and Trends Point to Retail Renewal
The U.S. economy
is slowly coming back into bloom. Like crocuses pushing up to the sun, consumers
are poised to embrace the springtime pageantry of Easter and the promise
of warmer weather in the months ahead. In response, retailers and suppliers
are leading the thaw with refreshing fashion, well-designed, abundant holiday
accessories, and selling floors decked out in sunny colors.
Every year, consumers
flock to a variety of retailers for their springtime needs. Below are several
holiday facts and figures, highlighting the shopping traditions that mark
many Easter and Passover celebrations:
Food,
Candy and Eggs
Easter is
expected to generate $1.82 billion in candy sales this year, and is
second only to candy sales for Halloween, the biggest candy-selling
occasion.(1)
Sixteen percent
of Americans dine out on Easter. Easter is the sixth most popular holiday
or occasion to dine out, after birthdays, Mother's Day, Valentine's
Day, Father's Day and New Year's Eve.(8)
Jelly beans
first became part of Easter celebrations in the 1930's, and more than
15 billion jelly beans were eaten during the Easter season last year.(1)
More than
60 million chocolate bunnies, 2 million marshmallow chicks per day,
and 15 billion jelly beans will be produced for Easter.(1)
More than
1 billion marshmallow Peeps were produced last year. Yellow Peeps are
the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue and white. By the
package, Peeps out-sell jelly beans.(10)
600 million
eggs are sold in stores across the U.S. each March and April.(5)
The first
use of colored eggs was to celebrate spring -- Persians dyed their eggs
red for this purpose in 3000 B.C., and ancient Egyptians, Greeks and
Romans followed suit.(9)
Easter egg
decorating was brought to the United States in the early 1700s by Germans
who settled in Pennsylvania.(9)
Flowers,
Greeting Cards, Decorations and Apparel
The Easter/Passover
season accounts for 19 percent of all holiday- related flower purchases
-- with over half of consumers choosing lilies. Flowers are also a traditional
addition to the Passover seder table as a symbol of spring.(2)
Easter is
the 4th most popular seasonal card-giving occasion, only ahead of Father's
Day, but behind Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Mother's Day.(6)
Easter is
the third largest seasonal decorations category, behind Christmas and
Halloween.(4)
Last year,
Hallmark offered more than 700 greeting cards for Easter that express
spiritual sentiments and feature popular symbols of this spring holiday.(7)
Sales at
specialty clothing and clothing accessories stores in Spring 2001 topped
$40.7 billion, a 13 percent increase over 2000.(3)
-- March = $13.2 billion
-- April = $13.5 billion
-- May = $14.0 billion
This spring,
look for retailers to refocus attention on the dress -- whether for
daytime dressing, evening cocktail styles, or softer, floral offerings.
Feminine accents, peasant and ethnic styles are setting the trends,
while details in beading, hemlines, and silhouettes are creating excitement
in the spring dress market. Ruffles, long, full skirts, lace and floaty
fabrics are key looks.
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