Don't love Halloween?  For a number of reasons, you should.  And as a small business owner, you may be especially happy to hear that a new report indicates consumer spending on the holiday is expected to be impressive this year.

"[M]ore consumers plan to celebrate the holiday this year (64.5% vs. 58.7%)," according to a statement from the National Retail Federation.  Also, "This year, the average person plans to spend $66.54 on the holiday, up from $64.82 one year ago.  Total Halloween spending for 2008 is estimated to reach $5.77 billion."

So regardless of what your company sells, it might be a good idea to revise or repurpose at least one or two products to match Halloween.  And don't forget to make sure you and your employees demonstrate the right spirit.  From there, it'll hopefully spread to your customers.

After all, setting aside religious implications, Halloween has to be one of the best holidays.  While other celebrations focus on whole meals, Halloween spotlights the best part: dessert.  And compared to every scary or funny thing under the sun, Santa, a turkey, and a rabbit just can't hold up.

On a more practical note, since there's no telling what the economy will look like by the time Thanksgiving and Christmas roll around, Halloween might present itself as a sort of "get while the getting's good" situation.