News

It's October in Salem, take out the spider pins

By Tom Dalton
Staff writer
Published: October 13, 2008

SALEM — The color of the leaves and the size of the crowds aren't the only signs of October in Salem. Many retail stores go through an annual metamorphosis.

"We morph a lot," said Trudy Stavros, co-owner of Signatures, a women's clothing store on the Essex Street pedestrian mall. "We change our products because there are 200,000 people coming."

This is the time of year when Signatures rolls out the spider jewelry, the skeleton and RIP pins, and the long capes.

Although it may have taken a few years for some retailers to catch on that Haunted Happenings is here to stay, today almost every store in the downtown makes some kind of genuflection to Halloween.

Pamplemousse, a kitchen and gift store, adds a few extra wines to its already funky collection. Vampire wine, for example, goes on the shelf next to Evil wine and Les Sorcieres, which has a witch with a broom on its label.

"You really have to re-create who you are during the month of October to survive," said Diane Manahan, the owner of Pamplemousse. "If you don't, you just lose out on an opportunity to make money during that month."

Pamplemousse may sell Vikings Blood mead year-round, but this is the month when it really moves off the shelves. Many witches come into the shop to buy mead for religious ceremonies, Manahan said.

"We're the No. 1 retailer of mead in Massachusetts, and it's mainly because of the month of October," she said.

Even Bernard's Jewelers, which has been on Essex Street since 1934 — long before Haunted Happenings — has learned that October isn't just for the witch shops and restaurants.

"Our regular customers stay away, or come before or after October," said Ray Tetrault, a co-owner. "But we do a lot of business with the tourists."

Bernard's sells a collectible Salem Witch doll made exclusively for the store by Byers' Choice Carolers. The store also sells silver and gold witch charms and pendants, some for more than $1,000. That merchandise is in the store all year, he said, but gets more prominent play in October.

It pays off.

"We've had some big sales," Tetrault said.

Laura Lanes Skin Care on Essex Street is selling pink false eyelashes and turquoise wigs this month. It's what the customer — or, at least, some of the customers — want.

This is when the shop takes out the goth white makeup for women who want to look their best for the Vampire Ball. It's also the month when Lanes provides a special service.

"We offer bewitching makeups," she said.

Cornerstone Books on Lafayette Street realizes that the man with the funny hat who just entered the store probably isn't searching for classic literature.

"They're not going to pick up 'Moby Dick' and say they got it from Salem," said employee Kayleigh Doucette. "They're going to get a vampire book."

If they do, they'll have no trouble finding one. It's on the main display table next to "The Zombie Survival Guide."

Of course, the city goes through its own rather dramatic retail metamorphosis this month. How else do you explain the sale, at several downtown locations, of official Haunted Happenings costume blood?