Sunday, October 25, 2009
Life, In this Issue..., Style

Behind the masks

Why you should support local costume shops instead of the quickie Halloween stores

By Alison Abbey

Local, year-round costumes shops are getting spooked by big-box competition.

    Long after the plastic pumpkins have been emptied of their confectionary contents and the candles inside those porch-dwelling Jack-O-Lanterns have burned out, a local network of mom-and-pop costume shops keeps the spooky spirit. But the annual influx of “big box” costume stores has made it increasingly difficult to stay afloat. These Halloween pop-up stores—which open for six weeks of holiday business before packing up their rented spaces—have big budgets but few expenses and masquerade as locally supportive businesses. Meanwhile, the year-round costume shops (which offer the same popular costumes, plus rental options and professional makeup) are working to keep businesses, and a strong sense of community, alive.

    The sign on the door at Costumes, Etc. says it all: “year-round since 1992.” But with the influx of big box Halloween stores, that notion is in jeopardy. “These pop-up stores come in the night, they stay six weeks, and they’re gone,” says owner Jane Powell. “We’re a local, year-round store. If we don’t make money at Halloween, the local mom-and-pop stores are going to be gone.

    “It was fine when there were one or two pop-up stores,” she continues. “But now there’s five or more around me. They can’t help but impact [us]. They pop up right near the small shops in the surrounding areas because they get a lot of traffic there. What people need to realize is that revenue from Halloween is what keeps us going all year. The small companies don’t have the capital the nationwide chains do.”

    Darlene Majewski, branch manager for Norcostco-Atlanta Costume, says the impact of the pop-up stores is felt in many ways. “We get slammed the week before Halloween because people will go into these stores, buy something, get it home and hate it,” she explains. “They’ll come in here and say, ‘can you help me fix this?’ We’ll help them by showing them how to put on their makeup, or give them some tips for accessories. Sometimes we’ll even send them to Michael’s or Home Depot. We don’t just want to sell to them; we want to help them.”

    Richard Morris, store manager of Eddie’s Trick Shop in Duluth, says that he sees similar results from those who shop online. “A lot of people come in and say they ordered a costume online, but found out at the last minute it’s on back order.” He says that while costumes-in-a-bag are available all over town, it’s what’s not available at the big-box stores that makes the independent stores a better option.

    “We have what you won’t find at those [pop-up] stores: quality rental costumes, knowledgeable staff and experience.”

    For Majewski, who's also a performer, working at Norcostco-Atlanta Costume is a perfect fit. The shop not only offers costume rentals, but also professional-grade theater makeup, as well as technical and theatrical supplies like lighting, draperies and paint. But while these added offerings help keep the business afloat beyond the Halloween season, they aren’t enough to overpower the big-box stores.
    “We’ve been in this location for 60 years. We don’t have the money and the advertising that the big stores do. They save their money all year long. They have 30 days with an unlimited budget to rent the best space and do the best advertising and run their commercials over and over.”

     The tight-knit network of local costume shops is a constant support. All three of the shops work together to stay afloat. “We don’t look at [Atlanta Costume or Costumes, Etc.] as competition,” says Morris. “We look at it as camaraderie.”

    “If I don’t have it, someone else might have it,” says Majewski. “It’s like ‘Miracle on 34th Street.’ If Macy’s doesn’t have it, send them to Gimbels. I get some of my stock from Eddie’s Trick Shop, so I don’t consider them a competitor, I consider them a vendor. When Jane comes over here, I offer her a professional discount, and she does the same for me. I know they’ve got my back after Halloween, and that’s really important to me.”

    Majewski, Powell and Morris all understand the importance of being year-round businesspeople in their respective communities. They make every effort to give back where they can. Costumes, Etc. works with Zoo Atlanta on cleaning and providing costumes for its children’s programs, and shares costumes with the historic Academy Theatre. Eddie’s Trick Shop uses its OTP locations to keep local schools and churches outfitted for productions and pageants. Norcostco-Atlanta Costume works closely with local schools to provide costumes for their drama departments and stage shows. 

    And as Majewski points out, it may be their most important time financially, but that doesn’t mean they neglect their roots during the Halloween rush. “We don’t forget our regular customers just because we become a quasi-Halloween store three weeks out of the year," she says. "We hope the teachers and directors we work with understand that we are trying to stay open by competing with the pop-ups, but the quality of our products and service are not suffering just because we’re trying to keep up with the times.” SP