Party City preps for a monster Halloween

COVID-19 crushed Halloween 2020. Then, the delta variant sucked the vampire blood out of 2021 party plans. This year, with the virus waning, America is going ghoulish with gusto, and Party City is ready. "This is our Super Bowl," says Odette Welling, the retailer's vice president of Halloween. In addition to hiring 20,000 seasonal associates, it is seeing stepped-up demand for special effects, costumes and tableware that says people are already trying to make this a Halloween to remember.