With apologies to Clement C. Moore, author of “A Visit from St. Nicholas”

‘Twas the week before Halloween
And all thru the mall
The shoppers were spending
They were buying it all.

They were scooping up candy
Decorations and masks
How much were they spending?
Oh, don’t even ask!

With all these dollars
And credit cards flying
Halloween’s now number two
In holiday buying.

Not Thanksgiving or Valentine’s
Nor that day set for Mother
Except for Halloween
There’s only one other

Merchants and restaurants
And businesses galore
Have found ways to use Halloween
To sell even more

“It’s a holiday for kids,”
I hear you say.
Yeah, just visit a bank
On Halloween Day

All the tellers wear costumes
Some even quite funny
And these are the people
Who’ve got all your money

You, too, can get a piece
Of this spending flurry
But Halloween’s soon
So you better hurry

Use Halloween to let clients
Know of them you’ve been thinking
So they’ll remember your name
Through all their December drinking

Run a Halloween special
Offer good things to eat
Be creative, be clever
Find a trick, find a treat

So plan a promotion
With a Halloween tie-in
One that will get
All your customers buyin’

As I close out this poem
Only one thing’s to write:
“Happy Halloween to all
And to all a good fright.”