“Summerween,” the summertime twist on October’s ghoulfest, by most accounts originated in 2012, when an episode of the Disney animated series Gravity Falls called “Summerween” first aired. But as Retail Brew noted last summer, the notion of actually celebrating the holiday didn’t really take hold until 2024, when social-media videos about Summerween went viral. Last July saw searches reach a then-historical high, according to Google Trends.
Now it’s back, and it’s even bigger than last year. Internet searches for “Summerween” have skyrocketed yet again, more than doubling this July over last year, according to Google Trends.
On TikTok, hundreds of videos hashtagged #jackomelon show celebrants carving watermelons instead of pumpkins; others feature jack-o-lanterns carved from pineapples. Yet others highlight more newly minted traditions for the holiday, like cheeseburgers where the cheese slices have been cookie-cuttered into the shape of ghosts, and hot dogs wrapped in strips of crescent dough to look like mummies.
Retailers, naturally, are cashing in on the enthusiasm. Michaels, among the stores early to capitalize, has introduced Halloween merch progressively earlier, from the week of July 7 in 2023, to June 24 in 2024, to June 13 this year (which—paging Jason Voorhees—fell on a Friday).
Helter swelter: Walmart also is goblin up the holiday, with items like a $9.98 Summerween plush throw with patterns including “Skeleton Beach Party” and “Summer Chills.” All six styles were sold out online at the time of publication.
A Business Insider reporter recently perused the in-store Summerween collections at Walmart and at two TJX retailers, TJ Maxx, and Home Goods. “Halloween is one of the few non-denominational, non-political, purely fun holidays throughout the year,” the article enthused. “Why not double up on it?”
Bath & Body Works new Summerween collection introduced what it calls a “whimsically ghoulish” women’s fragrance, “I Scream Float” (which sounds curiously like the stages of drowning), while the retailer also brought back a seasonal men’s fragrance, Vampire Blood.
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Mars, meanwhile, which makes candy brands including M&Ms, Twix and Snickers, hosted a Summerween concert and celebration on June 26 in Topeka, Kansas, where it has a manufacturing plant.
Costumer service representative: A March study conducted for Mars by Ipsos found that younger consumers seem to be the most anxious for Halloween to arrive. Shoppers on average plan to purchase Halloween candy 3.6 weeks in advance, but Gen Z plans to do so 4.5 weeks beforehand and millennials 4.1 weeks ahead of the holiday.
Therein lies perhaps the most interesting aspect of this year’s Summerween from a retail strategy perspective. While some of the merch is Summerween-specific, much of it is standard Halloween fare that is being repurposed (prepurposed?) for Summerween, meaning it enables retailers to both lengthen and amplify Halloween sales.
Plus, the scariest witches for the retail industry these days are tariffs, so why not get Halloween merch produced and on shelves while President Trump appears to be still bobbing for apples with US trading partners?
Some say Halloween itself hangs in the balance. In April, the Halloween & Costume Association, a trade group whose members collectively pull in $3 billion annually, warned that, with so many costumes made in China, tariffs could “wipe out Halloween.”
“Halloween isn’t like other holidays,” Robert Berman, who’s on the group’s board and is the CEO of Imposta Costume, said in a press release. “If products don’t land on time or become too expensive for families, Halloween simply doesn’t happen. There is no backup plan.”