How to Write a Halloween Costume Shop Business Plan (U.S., 2025)

Opening a U.S. Halloween costume shop in 2025 is still doable, but lenders and landlords now look for proof that you can sell beyond October 1–31, move inventory through pop-ups or e-com, and show a 36-month forecast that blends seasonal peaks with off-season cash flow. This guide follows the SBA-friendly order and shows exactly where the matching BPlanMaker template fits so you’re not starting from a blank page.

Matching template: Halloween Costume Shop Business Plan Template – Instant Download

Why a Halloween costume shop still works in 2025

U.S. households still spend on Halloween because it’s one of the cheapest “whole family” holidays to participate in. But brick-and-mortar shops need to prove they aren’t single-month businesses. Your plan has to show three lanes: (1) a strong Oct. in-store season with party bundles and accessories, (2) smaller campus/school/theater/cosplay sales the rest of the year, and (3) an online channel that clears leftover stock. If your SBA-style forecast shows those three lanes, lenders see a business, not a pop-up.

2025 buyers are also more specific — families look for licensed characters, teens look for TikTok-worthy costumes, schools want classroom-appropriate looks, and event planners need 5–20 matching costumes. Your plan should name each of these buyers and explain how you’ll reach them inside a 10- to 12-week calendar.

What to put in the plan

What does a Halloween costume shop business plan include?
A 2025 U.S. costume shop plan follows the SBA-friendly order: executive summary; company & concept (seasonal + year-round channels); local market and buyer segments; products & services (costumes, accessories, makeup, décor, rentals); operations & staffing for peak weeks; marketing and online discovery; and a 36-month financial forecast lenders can trace. Attach quotes for lease, fixtures, and inventory as appendices.

Start with a concept statement that says, in one paragraph, “we are a seasonal-forward, multi-channel U.S. costume retailer that sells in-store, in-school, and online.” That phrasing signals you understand fall peaks but aren’t limited to them. Then map location (strip center, lifestyle center, or temporary inline space), target ZIPs, and why that location gets the best October foot traffic.

Your market section should pull in population, household income, and school counts. Even though you’ll show the links later, the logic is: more households + more schools + more community events = more October rentals and accessory sales. Call out October weekends, city parades, and local trunk-or-treats as “demand drivers” — banks know these events.

The operations section must describe how you handle the 3–5 peak Saturdays: extended hours, counter-queue staff, on-the-spot size swaps, and a back-room staging area for bestsellers. That’s the difference between an idea and a store that can actually process 100–200 small tickets in a day.

Pricing, inventory, and average ticket

Costume pricing is tiered: low-cost kids’ sets, mid-range adult costumes, and premium or licensed costumes. Lenders want to see that the assortment and pricing match shopper behavior in October — people buy “the look,” not just the base costume. So your plan should assume an accessory attach rate (hats, wigs, swords, makeup, stockings, nails) on at least 35–45% of tickets, which pulls your average sale up.

Operator math example: suppose your average October Saturday sees 95 transactions. If your base costume ticket is $39 and 40% of customers add a $12 accessory, your day looks like this:

• 95 × $39 base = $3,705
• 40% of 95 = 38 customers buy $12 accessory → 38 × $12 = $456
• Total day = $3,705 + $456 = $4,161

When you drop that into the 36-month forecast, you can model 4–5 Saturdays like that, plus Fridays at 70% of Saturday volume, plus normal weekdays at 30–40% of Saturday volume. That’s the “peak-month logic” lenders want to see.

Don’t want to build all those peak-month assumptions from scratch? Download the ready-made Halloween Costume Shop plan and just plug in your city, lease quote, and inventory numbers.

Startup costs, money, and 36-month forecast

Before presenting, confirm current requirements at SBA.gov and size your local customer base using recent population/household data from Census.gov. In 2025, reviewers want a seasonal business to show working capital that survives January–August, not just October.

Typical startup costs include: first month’s rent and security deposit, point-of-sale and barcode setup, fixtures and rolling racks, changing-room setup, initial inventory buy (largest line item), packaging, signage, and a fall marketing push (social + local events + email). If you’ll run temporary pop-ups in malls or fairs, list those permit/booth fees separately.

Your forecast should show Year 1 as the “prove it” year: one full Halloween season, one set of school/cosplay events, and one round of post-season clearance. Year 2 should show better buying because you now know what actually sold. Year 3 should show repeat community events and partnerships.

Pre-launch checklist (8–12 steps)

1. Lock the location and verify foot-traffic for Sept.–Oct.
2. Confirm business structure, sales tax, and local retail licensing.
3. Order initial costume inventory by tiers (kids, adult, premium, accessories).
4. Set up POS with sizes/SKUs and staff training for peak weeks.
5. Build the Shopify/online channel to move excess inventory after Halloween.
6. Schedule social content, local fall events, and trunk-or-treat participation.
7. Hire and train seasonal staff — especially for fitting-room flow and upsells.
8. Prepare in-store visual merchandising for family/group looks.
9. Print price signage and promo cards for October weekends.
10. Run a soft-open weekend in late September to test average ticket.
11. Document everything as appendices in the business plan.

Scenario line: weekdays in October might run 30–50 tickets/day at $38 average (≈$1,140–$1,900), Fridays 60–80 tickets at $40–$45 (≈$2,400–$3,600), and Saturdays 90–120 tickets at $44–$48 (≈$3,960–$5,760). Model that in the plan to prove you can cover rent, payroll, and inventory within the month.