Spending on pet costumes rose 22.9% this Halloween

Not that anyone needed reminding that pets are increasingly treated like children in their households, but Halloween spending suggests the trend continues apace. Americans spent an estimated $860 million on pet costumes for the holiday this year, a 22.9% increase over last year’s $700,000, according to the National Retail Federation.

And retailers are helping to fuel the trend.

PetSmart hosted Halloween events for—sorry, bearded dragons—“your furry friends” in its stores on October 26. Along with treat stations situated throughout the stores, the in-store grooming salons featured “Spritz Stations” to keep pets, as the brand put it in an Instagram post, “smelling paw-some.”

The widely covered Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in New York City’s East Village was cancelled in 2023 until the Get Joy pet food company resurrected it with a last-minute sponsorship. This year it was sponsored by another pet food brand, Stella and Chewy’s, and by a pet insurance company that’s a natural fit for the holiday: Pumpkin.

Also in dog-obsessed New York, The Farmer’s Dog sponsored no fewer than four events at city dog parks, culminating with a parade and dog-costume contest at Washington Square Park.

Other brands kept the pet costume contest online, including Lucy Pet and DogWatch, which makes invisible fences and dog-training collars.

Now that pets have survived the ordeal of being dressed up as a hot dog, let the winter holiday shopping for them begin. Among pet owners, 70% purchase holiday gifts for the cutie pies, with 27% of those purchasers spending north of $100, according to a 2023 survey from SoFi.