Key Takeaways
- Kelly Schultz, an vintage vendor by occupation, operates The Nice Pumpkin Farm for about seven weeks a 12 months.
- Schultz had no farming expertise when he purchased the 85-acre property for about $650,000 in 1993.
- At present, the farm attracts greater than 100,000 guests every fall with pumpkins, hayrides, reside leisure and different sights.
About 33 years in the past, Kelly Schultz advised his family and friends that he was going to open a pumpkin farm.
“All people laughed at me,” he mentioned in a brand new interview with CNBC Make It.
The endeavor was exterior Schultz’s space of experience. He was a second-generation antiques vendor and didn’t know something about farming. He purchased the small farm in Clarence, New York, anyway.
Nobody’s laughing at him now.
Schultz, 74, now runs The Nice Pumpkin Farm, situated about 15 miles northeast of Buffalo. Greater than 100,000 folks go to the seasonal attraction every fall.
The farm generated $2 million in income in 2025, in response to monetary paperwork reviewed by CNBC Make It. It operates for simply seven weeks a 12 months.
This 12 months’s season runs from September 19 via October 31. Pumpkins are solely a part of the draw. Guests can trip a pumpkin-themed practice, enter pie-eating contests or discover a five-acre corn maze. Weekend admission is $20, although some actions, together with the corn maze, value further.
How he received began
Schultz had the concept to open a farm of his personal after visiting a crowded pumpkin patch in upstate New York within the early Nineteen Nineties. He noticed a easy operation with “muddy parking tons” and “not a complete lot of restrooms,” however there have been nonetheless “a zillion folks” shopping and shopping for pumpkins anyway.
“I appeared round, and I mentioned, ‘I might do that, higher than this,’” Schultz mentioned.
When the previous cattle farm subsequent to his vintage retailer hit the market in 1993, Schultz purchased the 85-acre property for about $650,000, intent on reworking it right into a pumpkin farm.
Schultz famous that extra folks go to the farm yearly.
“There are folks that come right here virtually each weekend,” he mentioned. “They find it irresistible a lot, they only preserve coming again.”
People are spending extra on Halloween than ever earlier than
For Schultz and different seasonal entrepreneurs, Halloween brings a brief however profitable window of alternative.
In line with the Nationwide Retail Federation’s annual Halloween survey, launched on September 22, People will spend about $13.5 billion celebrating the vacation in 2026, up from $13.1 billion final 12 months. The survey requested 7,889 customers about their Halloween plans.
Shoppers anticipate to spend a median of $115.14 per particular person, with purchases starting from costumes to decorations.
Halloween has turn out to be an vital vacation for extra folks. Practically three-quarters of customers surveyed, or 74%, plan to have fun this 12 months, in contrast with 68% in 2019.
Amongst these celebrating, 42% plan to carve pumpkins, and an equivalent proportion plan to brighten their properties and yards. Handing out sweet stays the most well-liked custom, at 61%, adopted by dressing in costume, at 50%.
The gross sales alternative additionally begins nicely earlier than October 31. Practically half of Halloween buyers, 49%, mentioned they deliberate to start shopping for in September or earlier, in contrast with 34% a decade in the past. Companies have extra of an opportunity to promote seasonal Halloween merchandise weeks earlier than the vacation itself.
Key Takeaways
- Kelly Schultz, an vintage vendor by occupation, operates The Nice Pumpkin Farm for about seven weeks a 12 months.
- Schultz had no farming expertise when he purchased the 85-acre property for about $650,000 in 1993.
- At present, the farm attracts greater than 100,000 guests every fall with pumpkins, hayrides, reside leisure and different sights.
About 33 years in the past, Kelly Schultz advised his family and friends that he was going to open a pumpkin farm.
“All people laughed at me,” he mentioned in a brand new interview with CNBC Make It.
The endeavor was exterior Schultz’s space of experience. He was a second-generation antiques vendor and didn’t know something about farming. He purchased the small farm in Clarence, New York, anyway.
