SALEM ― Tourists lined cobblestoned Essex Street waiting for their turn to enter curiosity shops and witch stores on Columbus Day.
“It’s been great,” said Tim Maguire, who owns Wynott’s Wands, Remember Salem, the Halloween Museum, and the Salem Night Tours. “This is the most normal it’s been in a long time.”
Businesses are thriving in Salem this Halloween. Several managers and business owners reported that they are on track to make as much as the whole 2020 Halloween season less than two weeks into October.
“Last October was busier than we expected, but there is no comparison for this year,” said Betty Bouchard, the owner of The Trolley Depot, a souvenir store on the corner of Central and Essex streets.
Stores were closed from March to July last year, said Christian Day, a former member of the city’s Board of Tourism and co-owner of Omen and Hex, two witch-themed gift shops in the downtown area.
“We’re actually comparing this year to both 2020 and 2019,” Day said about his shops. “Because last year was so overshadowed by everything COVID, we’re also comparing (sales) to 2019 which was the busiest year ever and we’re beating the hell out of it.”
Day said that people wanted a bit of magic last year to help them through the crisis of the pandemic. This year, he thinks that people who were forced to sit around for the last 18 months are excited to get out and explore the historic city.
“A lot of people come to Salem because they want to feel that the world is a magical place,” Day said. “Now you have all those people who are just sick of being in their house all the time so they come here.”
While the Halloween-themed stores were bustling with visitors, less spooky stores ― like Harrison’s Comics ― said they were busier than normal as well. Last October, the comic shop had capped their capacity at 50 people at a time, said manager Jon Mihaich. This year, that has completely changed.
“Last week, we had 75 to 80 people in the store from open to past closing,” said Mihaich. “It was almost 12 hours straight of people just coming in.”
Mihaich said that there is a sense of joy in the air that was missing last year.
“Everyone is in high spirits,” Mihaich said. “The town is definitely on fire.”
