Easter Candy Retailers to See Sweets Success

The Easter Bunny had better get hopping. A telephone survey of 1,000 consumers conducted by the International Mass Retail Assn. suggests that 67.4% of people celebrating Easter this year will be buying candy. Consumers are expected to spend $1.5 billion on Easter candy this season. The holiday ranks No. 2 behind Halloween in candy sales. Half of respondents said they would buy Easter goodies in discount department stores; conventional department stores will bag 12.9% of the goods and grocery stores will sell 11.7% of the candy.