Thursday, October 18, 2007
Walking down the aisles of Spirit Halloween, 925 Iowa St., a female college student is looking for the perfect outfit. Goblins, superheroes, pirates, ghosts, there is a wide variety for her to choose from. The essential costume accessories, such as rainbow colored wigs, black shades of lipstick and fake blood are nearby as well. As Halloween approaches, people are ready to celebrate a night dedicated to fright and mayhem, while costume shops around Lawrence do their best to help prepare for it.
Jani Gisi, Aberdeen South Dakota sophmore, helps Betsy Beam, Topeka Sophmore, tie up her costume at Fun and Games on Wednesday. Halloween shops are keeping busy as the holiday draws near.
Alex Munoz, a Spirit Halloween store clerk, said the store opened in September and had been seeing good business since.
“We have been getting a lot of customers from the start, from young kids to parents and older adults,” Munoz said. “But we sell mostly to college students, which has a lot to do with this area being a college town.”
Munoz said kids tend to buy the typical ‘scary’ mask, such as a monster or goblin, while ‘Playboy’ merchandise tends to be the most popular with college students.
“College people tend to buy out of the Playboy section the most,” he said. “There is a lot of interest in dressing as a ‘Playboy bunny.’ Munoz said the ‘Playboy’ outfits had been selling well for both genders and thought it had always been a top seller in years past.
Todd Anderson, Hutchinson senior, said the ‘Playboy’ costumes had and always would be popular among females.
“Last year looked like a Victoria’s Secret model show because every girl I saw was wearing next to nothing,” Anderson said.
Similar to Spirit Halloween, Fun & Games, 830 Massachusetts St., offers a wide variety of costumes for the upcoming holiday. The family-owned store caters mostly to college students, but has plenty to offer young children and adults as well. Gwen Billings, Fun & Games employee, said the store prided itself in low prices and its large costume selection.
“We’re a major costume store, that is our focus, the main thing we do,” Billings said. Billings said the store offered customers over 780 adult sized costumes and a wide variety for children. Prices range from $10 to $150 depending on what kind of costume a customer is looking for and how much they want to spend.
Billings said although the store prides itself in a wide variety of costumes and apparel, theme parties make for a popularity in sales of police, pirate and Hawaiian costumes.
Those who do not want to spend their money on something they think will only get worn once have the option of renting a costume. Sarah’s Fabrics, 925 Massachusetts St., specializes in fabric-made costumes for rent during the Halloween season. Kathy Barland, a Sarah’s Fabrics employee, said she thought her store offered more unique costumes than most stores in town.
“I feel like our costumes are more than just something made out of plastic,” Barland said. “Our costumes are more realistic, less imaginary. You could wear them for more than Halloween.” Prices for costumes vary depending on what customers choose. Barland said she thought students were coming to Sarah’s because people were more interested in original ideas for costumes rather than some of the more popular ones.
Anderson agreed stores offering more original costumes to choose from end up with more customers.
“I think being able to shelf the most common costumes masks and make up, as well as the most random weirdest costumes, masks and make up, makes a store successful,” Anderson said. “Being able to be versatile about what you are selling will get you the most business.”
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