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10 places to look for post-Halloween candy deals

Post-Halloween candy deals turn up at discount chains, drugstores, supermarkets, warehouse clubs and online sellers, and these 10 places and timing tips show where to look

Halloween candy loses its spot on the sales floor long before it loses its usefulness. Once October 31 passes, bags printed with pumpkins, bats and ghosts lose their main selling point. Retailers need the space for winter holiday merchandise. Leftover seasonal stock becomes something to clear rather than something to promote.

That shift is what creates post-Halloween candy deals. The candy inside is usually the same branded product that sat on the shelf in October. The packaging is what lost value. A fun-size chocolate bar in an orange wrapper is the same chocolate bar in mid-November.

Discounted Halloween candy can show up across many kinds of stores. Big-box discount chains, drugstore chains, supermarkets, warehouse clubs, dollar stores and online sellers all carry seasonal candy in some form. What happens to the leftovers is up to each retailer.

The size and timing of markdowns vary. They differ from chain to chain, and they can differ from one store to the next within the same chain. A location with heavy foot traffic may run out of popular brands quickly. A quieter store a few miles away may still have stock days later. Shoppers who hold out for a deeper discount take on the risk that the candy they want will be gone.

Store type also shapes what a shopper finds. A neighborhood drugstore offers convenience but limited stock. A warehouse club sells larger packs that require a membership to buy and room to store. An online seller removes the trip but adds shipping, which matters for chocolate that can melt in transit.

The 10 slides that follow are a selection of places and methods for finding leftover Halloween candy at a lower price. They are not a ranking, and they do not name a single best option. Nine cover specific retailers or store types, from Target $TGT and Walmart $WMT to Grocery Outlet and other regional discount grocers. The last covers timing, including the trade-off between shopping early and waiting. It also covers checking a store's app or website for local stock before making a trip.

Target Halloween candy clearance

Target $TGT is one of the big-box chains where leftover Halloween candy can turn up at reduced prices after October 31. Look for discounted bags in or near the seasonal section, but markdown depth and remaining stock vary from store to store.

Target is a general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, with stores across the U.S. Many of its larger locations carry groceries alongside clothing, home goods and electronics. In the weeks before Halloween, candy shares seasonal floor space with costumes, decorations and party supplies.

Store format matters at Target. The chain also runs smaller-format stores in dense urban neighborhoods and near college campuses. These locations carry a narrower assortment than a full-size store. A shopper near one of them may find a smaller seasonal candy selection to begin with.

At Target, two spots are worth checking. The first is the area where Halloween goods were displayed before the holiday. The second is any end-cap or shelf the store has set aside for marked-down items. Leftover candy can end up there next to other unsold holiday merchandise.

Seasonal packaging is what separates clearance candy from the regular candy aisle. Fun-size bars, variety bags and Halloween-themed versions of familiar chocolate and gummy brands are the products most tied to the holiday. Everyday packaging of the same brands in the main aisle is not seasonal stock. It is less likely to be part of a Halloween markdown.

Some confections are tied to the season itself. Candy corn, for example, is sold mainly around Halloween. A leftover bag of it counts as seasonal stock wherever it sits in the store.

That distinction also covers Target's own candy. The chain sells sweets under its Favorite Day store brand, next to national brands. The Favorite Day line also includes baked goods, ice cream and snacks. Whether a bag carries a store brand or a national one, Halloween packaging is the sign that it belongs to seasonal stock.

Walmart leftover Halloween candy

At Walmart $WMT, the place to look for leftover Halloween candy is the seasonal section and any clearance displays near it. The regular candy aisle is a separate stock with its own pricing.

Walmart operates several store formats in the U.S. The largest is the Walmart Supercenter, which combines a full grocery department with general merchandise under one roof. That mix means candy can sit in more than one place in the same building.

The seasonal section holds the Halloween-specific products. These include themed bags, variety mixes and packages printed with Halloween artwork. Many of those bags contain fun-size or snack-size pieces of brands sold all year. The regular candy aisle stocks the standard packaging of many of the same brands.

Walmart built its pricing approach around Everyday Low Price, a strategy of keeping regular shelf prices low instead of relying on frequent temporary sales. The year-round candy aisle falls under that everyday pricing model. A clearance price on leftover Halloween........

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