Halloween is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

For many people, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.  But for Diana Davanzo, that honor goes to Halloween and all that entails running a successful seasonal costume business.

Davanzo is the store manager of the Spirit of Halloween, located at 1000 Sunrise Highway in Massapequa. She has worked at the seasonal costume and specialty shop for the past four years and said it’s all about creating a positive customer experience in order to encourage repeat business.

“This is all word of mouth,” Davanzo, said. “Our customers come into the store and they all love us. It’s the same with the same any customer service experience. If you have a bad time, you’ll tell a friend never to go there. But if you have a good time, you’ll do the same thing and tell a friend. In this business it’s all about networking and word of mouth.”

The Spirit of Halloween is owned by Spencer’s, a lifestyle retail company that operates two unique national brands, throughout the United States and Canada. The Massapequa location is the highest grossing store in the area.  She said Spencer’s has been in the seasonal specialty business for almost three decades and she believes it really has a knack for finding the best possible location.

“They’ve been doing this for 28 years,” she said. “They’re very professional company and on top of where to find the best location. If this location is not available next year, I’m sure they will find one close to here and the word will get around.”

Davanzo said she and her 17 member staff start the preparation for the store opening in late summer and the success of the sales season are contingent upon how well the sales went last year.

“We set up everything from the props  and merchandise in August and we open the first week of September,” Davanzo explained. “Or at least that’s what we strive for. People find out about our location from their friends and word of mouth. We do have an email that goes around if you shopped with us the year before. If you didn’t give us your email address, you won’t get an email from us telling you where our location is the next year.”

The store is open Monday through Sunday from the first week in September until November 1, when all the Halloween goods are marked 50 percent off.

Despite the troubling economic times, Davanzo said she didn’t see any decline in sales of the need for holiday the seasonal specialty business can still strive and be very profitable. Her store is the highest grossing store on Long Island. She said she hears parents all the time talking about what they had to do in order to make sure their children had the proper costume to celebrate Halloween.

“The economy is horrible personally but if it takes a parent working an extra hour of overtime to make sure their kids have that special costume, then that’s what happens.  I think right now with the economy and Halloween it’s all about budgeting, because Halloween is all about the kids.”

Another program that is all about the kids is the annual Halloween party sponsored by the store. The Spirit of Children is an annual party designed to show the children at Winthrop and St. Mary’s hospitals some Halloween fun. The store provides the children with Halloween costumes, candy and other holiday treats to simply put some joy in the heart of very deserving children.

 The program started five years ago with 11 hospitals and since has expanded to over 100 hospitals nationwide. The two area hospital for the Massapequa Spirit of Halloween, are Winthrop and St. Mary’s.  For Davanzo, it’s something even more personal and special.

"Knowing how much a costume and candy can put a smile on those kids faces really makes the difference," she said. "Trust me, those kids deserve it."