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NCA ADMINISTRATION
Board oF directors
President
Terry Sinopoli
Arlene’s Costumes 1156 Culver Rd. Rochester, NY 14609
terry@arlenescostumes.com 585-662-9942
Term ends: 2025
immediate Past
President
Pam Markel
Illusive Skull Costume Castle 1314 Morgantown Ave. Fairmont, WV 26554 docmarkel@aol.com
304-476-7927
Term ends: 2025
Vice President
Janine Caufield
Caufield’s 1006 West Main St. Louisville, KY 40202
Janine@caufields.com 502-727-5682
Term ends: 2025
treasurer
Louella Torrence
Drop Me a Line Costume Shop 3600 Catherine Ave. Allentown, PA 18103 dropmealine@rcn.com 610-360-5498
Term ends: 2025 director
Marion Bradley
Discount Costumes 1736 Watson Blvd Warner Robins, GA 31093 balloonsnpartiesinfo@ gmail.com 478-396-1204
Term ends: 2026
director
Calvin Coffman
Graftobian 510 Tasman St. Madison, WI 53714 608-222-7849
calvincoffman@graftobian.com
Term ends: 2026
director
Anne Dorsey
McCabe’s Costumes 4054 S. Memorial Dr. Winterville, NC 28590 mccabescostumes@gmail. com
Term ends: 2026 director
Courtland Hickey
Chicago Costume 1120 W. Fullerton Ave. Chicago, IL 60614 courtland@chicagocostume. com
773-528-1264
Term ends: 2025 director
Dwayne Ibsen
Ibsen Costume Gallery 4981 Hamilton St. Omaha, NE 68132
402-556-1400 Fax 402-556-5727 ibsencostumes@ gmail.com
Term ends: 2025 director
Brandon Lilly
The Life of the Party 4025 S. Mason St., Ste B. Fort Collins, CO 80525 brandon.lilly@goodsforgeeks. com 970-414-0857
Term ends: 2025 executiVe director Ed Avis
National Costumers Association 708-218-7755 executivedirector@costumers.org
standing committee chairs
Buyer member Benefits: Courtland Hickey
Vendor Benefits: Calvin Coffman
membership recruitment: Anne Dorsey and Marion Bradley
revenue: Anne Dorsey
nominations and awards: Pam Markel
Bereavement, disaster and grievance: Pam Markel
history: Dwayne Ibsen and Pam Markel
Website: Janine Caufield and Brandon Lilly
social media: Janine Caufield and Calvin Coffman
Forget Your nCA MeMber beneFits!
Here is a quick summary of some key benefits of being an NCA Member.
Buyer’s Group: A list of NCA Vendors Members who offer discounts to Buyer Members. We recently added several new ones, including Sofi’s Stitches, Music Legs and Foam Party Hats.
Bundle Program: This program combines purchases from members, so we all get better deals from the vendors.
Discount Connections: When stores close or otherwise need to unload inventory, NCA members are quickly informed and can get some great buys.
Zoom Fashion Show: Check out the latest products from our Vendor Members from the comfort of your store or home!.
Digital Catalog: This giant online catalog offers samples of products from each of our Vendor Members.
Resources: Recorded webinars, back issues of The Costumer magazine, the Plot Service and much more is available in the NCA Member Portal.
PRESIDENT’S LETTER
happy holidays to my nca Friends,
Depending on when you’re reading this, you’re either in the throes of the Halloween selling season or are relaxing after a hectic October. But by early November, we’ll all be able to say we made it through Halloween! And when you have time to recover, we’d love to hear about your experiences this year: How was your Halloween? Did having it on a Friday improve your sales? Did any particularly popular movie releases or other entertainment encourage more participation and sales? Make sure to share them with us on our NCA Facebook or Instagram pages or send us an email.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year (besides Halloween). I come from a big family, and we love celebrating holidays, especially Christmas. We cook, bake, listen to Christmas music, watch movies and TV specials, cut down our Christmas tree, and most importantly, spend time together. My dad played Santa for private parties, company events, community celebrations and our family until I was old enough to recognize the guy in the red suit. He was even the Xerox corporate headquarters Santa for 10 years. He was always looking for the BEST Santa Suit, bells, boots, gloves and everything Santa.
As Christmas and the holiday season nears, Santa and his helpers will be looking for friendly, well-stocked shops and online stores to help find their Santa suits, Mrs. Claus and elves costumes, plus accessories and decorations. Please take advantage of all that our vendor members have to offer for the holidays. This is a great way to finish the year on a strong note.
Another popular theme during the holidays is tech. We buy tech as gifts. We look at new personal and professional tech for the upcoming new year. Are you looking at new technology for your business? Are you tech-savvy, or would you prefer to be around as little tech as possible? Tech is the wave of the future across nearly all industries. It does not just have to mean computers. It also can mean new materials for creating products — plastics, fabrics and more.
Your Board of Directors has been working all year to give you great ideas to improve your sales for every season — and that includes ideas about how to use new technology. Look through our social media posts, bi-weekly newsletters, and The Costumer for fantastic ideas. Don’t be afraid to reach out to directors or long-time members for suggestions. We have an NCA Facebook page, a Members’ Only page, and an Instagram page. We have events all year to help improve business, give amazing ideas and get together as colleagues and friends.
Another great way to see what is happening in our industry is to attend the Halloween & Party Expo in Las Vegas January 12 to 14, 2026. You can meet some of our members and vendor members, check out demonstrations and learn about new products.
Are you thinking about your New Year’s resolution? Why not make one you can keep. I invite you to become an active participant in the National Costumers Association in the new year. Like or follow us on our socials, join us for webinars and special events. This is YOUR NCA! Please help us make 2026 an amazing one for our organization and our industry!
All my best for a festive holiday season and wonderful new year,
terry sinopoli, President
National Costumers Association
terry@arlenescostumes.com
Arlene’s Costumes, Rochester, New York
nca national headquarters
ed avis
executive director
P.O. Box 13347 Chicago, IL 60613 708-218-7755
executivedirector@costumers.org
The Costumer Publications office
Ed Avis Associates
P.O. Box 13347 Chicago, IL 60613 708-218-7755
executivedirector@costumers.org
ad sales
Ed Avis
708-218-7755
executivedirector@costumers.org
editorial inquiries
Kathleen Furore
708-267-0023
kfurore@yahoo.com
art director
Michelle Crisanti michelle@mc2chicago.com
©2025, National Costumers Association. The Costumer is published by the National Costumers Association, Inc., with headquarters located at the above address, a nonprofit and incorporated association of costumers located in the United States, Australia, Bahamas, Canada, India, Ireland, Mexico, and Great Britain.
No responsibility is assumed for the opinions expressed or claims made by the authors of articles or by advertisers. Appearance in the magazine does not constitute endorsement by the National Costumers Association, nor its officers or representatives.
www.costumers.org
ASSOCIATION NEWS
GMACK Designs, Sofi’s Stitches Still Sewing in South Carolina
By Ed Avis
When Gregory Todd was a young man, some 40 years ago, you could find a garment factory “on every corner” in Lake City, South Carolina, he says. Today his factory, GMACK Designs — an NCA Vendor Member — is the only one left in a hundredmile radius, except for one nearby that makes women’s panties. GMACK
Designs still employs 13 or 14 sewers, all of whom have multiple decades of experience behind the sewing machine. And the line of garments they make — including the Sofi’s Stitches line of Renaissance wear — is the highest quality clothing of its type this side of Florence, Italy. Michelangelo probably would have been comfortable in it.
“We buy the best fabrics and everything that we can,” Todd explains. “I’ve had people say that they’ve had our garments for 20 years.”
But that’s not all the factory makes. Do you remember the TV show Glee? Todd’s company made costumes for that program. Earlier they sewed clothing for Tommy Hilfiger and Oxford Industries. And if you’ve ever purchased a Santa outfit from Planet Santa, well, Gregory’s sewers made that, too.
Some costume manufacturers lean on GMACK Designs
when they run low on inventory and can’t wait for the next container to arrive from China. And he’s got the capacity to take on more of that kind of work, which is probably a good thing given the tariff situation.
“If other companies needed some help because they ordered from China and did not get quite enough, we don’t mind helping them out,” Todd says, adding that he could add more staff if needed.
Work Leaving the u.s.
Speaking of China, though, here comes a sad part of this story: Todd’s father started the company, then called Lake City Manufacturing, in the 1970s, and by the 1990s the company had three plants and more than 200 sewers…so today’s GMACK Designs is just a fraction of what Lake City Manufacturing was in its heyday.
“You know, they signed the NAFTA bill in 1994, and by around 2000 we could not find any work, because all of it went to Mexico and China,” Todd says in his distinctive South Carolina accent.
Fortunately, around that time Sofi’s Stitches came into the picture. The then-owner of that company, Valerie Lilley, contracted with GMACK to produce her line of Renaissance clothing. About eight years later Todd bought Sofi’s Stitches, giving GMACK a built-in customer. Today they continue to wholesale and retail those products.
Todd designs new garments for Sofi’s Stitches himself. He gets ideas from watching movies, then makes the patterns and tries out various trims, buttons and other details.
“When we make new designs, we send them out to Renaissance fairs,” he says. “That’s how we do our trials to see how people take to the new garments.”
GMACK Designs has plenty of Sofi’s Stiches inventory, so if you need more product to put on your shelves for Halloween, check out their line. Todd says they ship most orders out the same day they receive them.
Times have changed since the booming 1990s, but GMACK and Sofi’s Stitches are still here, serving the costume industry with top-quality, American-made products.
Gregory Todd
nca suPPorting memBers at haLLoWeen
The internet is an essential marketing tool these days, and the NCA is using the internet to drive customers to NCA member stores this Halloween season. In a continuation of a program that started last year, the NCA is paying for a Google AdWords campaign that targets consumers who search for costumes online and encourages them to shop at a genuine, local bricks-and-mortar costume shop instead. When consumers click on the promotion, the link takes them to the online NCA member directory so they can find a shop in their own community. In 2024 the campaign generated nearly 90,000 impressions and exactly 700 visits to the NCA member directory.
nca haPP y hour: Let’s taLk haLLoWeen!
Do you like talking shop with other costume shop owners? Then you’d love the NCA Happy Hour.
The NCA Happy Hour, a concept that started earlier this
year, is a quarterly opportunity for members to share with others over Zoom.
The final Happy Hour of 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday, November 18 at 3 p.m. Central. Since the Halloween season will have ended just weeks before, we’ll start the Happy Hour by sharing experiences of the holiday.
All NCA members will receive an email with the Zoom link and other details about a week before the event. Get ready to talk Halloween!
nca WeBinar: saFety in your make-uP dePartment
Every customer in your store deserves to be safe, including when they are trying or buying make-up. But make-up sometimes contains ingredients that may be allergenic, irritating, or otherwise undesirable for certain customers.
This NCA webinar on November 20 at 10 a.m. Central will help shop owners understand the risks and how to avoid them. Put the date on your calendar and look for registration information in a member email soon.
FROM THE HISTORY VAULT
Time Travel: Visiting 1980s and 1990s NCA Award-Winners
By Pam Markel
Editor’s Note: NCA historians and past presidents Pam Markel and Dwayne Ibsen discovered a wealth of information about NCA’s famous Grand International Award and related costume awards when they decided to travel through the Association’s archives. This, the second in our series, covers the 1980s and 1990s — the era Markel described as “the golden age of Memorial Awards that grew throughout the 80s and 90s.”
1980s memorial award Winners
The 1980s brought subtle changes to the event. Entrants had to register prior to the convention to be part of it and the judging ballot was streamlined and refined. This judging ballot that was used at NCA conventions faded out in the 2010s.
Points were awarded for creativity, construction, rentability, fabrication, and adherence to the category. Following the runway competition, Memorial Award entrants set up elaborate displays that included the costume plus research items, design work for the costume, swatches, photos and anything else relevant to the final result. The displays frequently included research books, framed designs, photos, and display mannequins.
Winning a Memorial Award became as popular as winning the category itself.
Following a morning of judging by five convention judges, the room was opened for conventioneers to stop and peruse the incredible work done by NCA costume shops.
The following costumes took home Memorial Awards from the early to late 1980s:
1980 authentic category:
“Erte Gown” by Arizona
Costume House, Phoenix
1982 animal/ mascot
ategory: “Texas Armadillo” by Starline Costumes, San Antonio
m 1983 Theatre category: “Diamond Lil” by Landes Costumes, Indianapolis m 1984 comedy category: “Sharkey & Bunny” by Cheshire Creations, Denver m 1985 authentic category:
“1894 Afternoon Dress” by Eastern Costumes, Greensboro, N.C. m 1985 Theatre category:
“Anna & the King” by Anderson Costumes, Chesterfield, Ind.
m 1986 authentic category:
“Josephine Bonaparte” by Theatrics Unlimited, Charleston, S.C.
m 1988 spectacular category:
“Victoria Valentine” Ibsen Costume Gallery, Omaha, Neb.
m 1988 makeup category: “The Mikado” by Harold Swain, Ibsen Costume Gallery, Omaha, Neb.
Sharkey & Bunny
The Mikado
m 1989 First convention category: “Chinese Prince & Princess” by Features Costumes, Tampa, Florida m 1989 masquerade category: “Arlecchino & Aclecchina” by Costume Bazaar, New Haven, Conn.
1990s grand international s howcase Winners
Describing the Grand International Showcase winners of this decade is extremely challenging. Everyone thought the 1980s was over the top, but the 1990s brought a whole new dimension of costuming and an unbelievable extravaganza of creativity and design. You had to be at the National Conventions in the 1990s to see and experience the beauty of these magnificent creations!
1990 “Jacques the Jaunty Jester” by The Costume Bazaar, New Haven, Conn.
Created by former NCA President Josie Russell, this costume was spectacular, from the elaborate headpiece and matching makeup to the glittering costume and matching staff. The Cos-
Bazaar also won the Charles Van Riper Memorial award for Outstanding Spectacular Costume and was first runner up for the Makeup award.
rystal Folly” by Features Costumes Inc., Tampa, Fla. Designed and created by Past President Duane Wendell and Joseph Stokes, the costume featured a skirt made of 16,000 hand-strung beads, finished with 280 bagettes and strung onto a lamé belt; the top had 5,000 hand-strung crystal beads, enhanced by crystal prisms and silver lamé appliques covered with bugle beads and silver sequins; and the fan the model carried consisted of 14 yards of iridescent taffeta. The inside of the taffeta was covered with 2,000 natural peacock feathers with a Swarovski rhinestone in every feather’s eye. The back of the fan was trimmed with silver brocaded lamé in a baroque design, and accented with pewter, silver and blue sequins. The bottom of the fan was finished with a sunburst of lame and sequins, complemented with a matching six-foot train.
m 1992 “Winter Wizard” by The Enchanted Attic, San Bernadino, Calif. The Wizard was unbelievable — ice and sparkles from head to toe to staff! You could just envision this icy, gorgeous wizard coming out of the snow to perform magic of some kind. Winter Wizard received the Charles Van Riper Memorial award for the Outstanding Spectacular Category and the William Zauder Makeup award.
m 1993 “mardi gras…Then, now and Forever” by Helen’s Pacific Costumes, Portland, Ore. Entries in the Grand International Competition usually have a back story, but this one is unique and interesting. Early in April of 1993, a customer walked into Helen’s Pacific Costume Shop with a poster from New Orleans and said: “Make this for me, I need it by June.” This poster only showed the costume from the waist up, so the team at Helen’s had to design the lower portion and create what was underneath. “Mardi Gras Then” had a cocoon cape that was removed to reveal a drop waist and beaded lamé coat; “Mardi Gras Now” had an Egyptian air with its collar and girdle; and “Mardi Gras Forever” was obtained by removing the skirt and adding leggings and winged cuffs.
m 1994 “ triceratops” by Stagecraft Inc., Cincinnati. The audience was stunned when this beautiful creation took up
FROM THE HISTORY VAULT
almost the entire stage. There were no details in the history of this entry, except that Randy Kent, the owner, was the backend of the dinosaur. We do know that Stagecraft was known for its amazing work and construction.
m 1995 “carnival in Venice” by Costumes by Joyce in Suisun City, Calif., and “masque of the red death” by Spotlight Costumes in Pittsburgh. The two shops tied!
The “Carnival of Venice” costumes were two gorgeous period-correct outfits trimmed in a sparkling gold trim, accompanied by hats adorned with feathers and matching trim and period masks ready to take to Carnival.
The “Masque of the Red Death” was spectacular. This costume was designed for the Masquerade number in Phantom of the Opera, when the Phantom enters, wearing this in the middle of a crowded staircase. The exquisite trim and beading, layered fabrics and textures came together for a stunning garment, worthy of a prince. The mask and staff were periodcorrect, making it sheer perfection.
m 1996 “Prince and Princess of auroa” by Features Costumes Inc., Tampa, Fla. These unbelievably detailed entries
that mesmerized the audience also won first place in the Memorial Judging Spectacular category.
m 1997 “dino-saura-saures & Lib-a rex-a-saures” by Helen’s Pacific Costumes, Portland Ore. These flamboyant, delightful dinosaurs stole the Las Vegas limelight and the prestigious GI trophy with their vivid colors, materials, trims and accents that made them come alive. This entry also won the Robert Schultz Memorial Award for Outstanding Mascot/Animal Costume.
m 1998 “shaman” by Costume Holiday House, Fremont, Ohio. The Kerns family captured the fantasy, mystery and realism of what a shaman was. From the oversized, detailed head/mask to the body, shield and staff, everything about this costume helped you envision this entry as a medium between the visible world and the spirit world. This costume also won the Memorial Award for Outstanding Masquerade costume.
m ”dama muerta” (dead lady) by Spotlight Costumes, Pittsburgh. This intriguing, beautiful, elegant costume was magnificent with its exquisite choices of materials and trims, and the layering of material from top to bottom. The train held by the model complimented the body of the dress. The outstanding headpiece added to the costume’s intrigue and mystery. Dame Muerta also won the Charles Van Riper Memorial Award for Outstanding Holiday Costume.
Watch for more entertaining news from the NCA Archives in upcoming issues of The Costumer.
Costume Shop POS:
Four Owners Discuss Their Systems
By Ed Avis, NCA Executive Director
When Anne Dorsey, owner of McCabe’s Costumes in Winterville, North Carolina, opened her business five years ago, a key characteristic she looked for in a POS system was that it helped manage inventory.
“We needed one that married our online and in-store inventory,” Dorsey explains. “So, if you ordered something online, it would automatically take it out of the inventory, and the same if you bought it in the store. That way we wouldn’t oversell things.”
her inventory automatically updates when she places an order. When the goods arrive, she confirms everything, and the inventory becomes available in the system.
Another valuable feature is an add-on called Search Discovery. “It tells me if somebody comes to the website and searches for something, and if we don’t have in the stock, it will say, ‘Keyword searched for, but no results found.’ So that kind of tells me, oh, maybe I should carry some more of X, Y, Z, whatever they
“ i can also use it on my phone…if it’s after hours and somebody messages me on Facebook, i can look the product up, get them the total price with tax, and they can either Venmo me payment or i can invoice them right from my phone…” — Amy cartwright, The costume s hop
She settled on Shopify. The system is well known for its online sales abilities, but it also provides the hardware and software needed by a bricks-and-mortar retailer. By a narrow margin, Shopify is the most popular POS system used by NCA members, based on a survey taken the third week in September and answered by 14 costume shop owners.
Shopify meets a lot of a costume shop owner’s needs, but there are lots of choices. We interviewed four owners, each of whom use one of the four most popular systems: Shopify, Clover, Square and Lightspeed.
We asked them about the POS’ key characteristics, including inventory management, integration with online sales and external accounting systems, hardware and software dependability, tech support and training, and quality of reports. Below is just a sample from their replies — watch for more details about each system in a future NCA report.
shoP i Fy
Dorsey uses Shopify on a tablet for her POS. She likes the fact that she can take the tablet anywhere — if she runs a pop-up shop, for example — and still have a functioning POS system.
One feature she particularly appreciates is that it allows some costume vendors to integrate with Shopify directly, which means
were searching for.”
Other add-ons Dorsey takes advantage of are an SEO tool that optimizes her pictures and adds meta tags so they are better identified by search engines, and an integration with QuickBooks Online so all of her sales data automatically goes into her accounting system.
The system also is easy to use. “I always tell people, if you can use your smartphone, you can use Shopify,” Dorsey says. “We have a very technologically challenged person what works with us, and he struggled a little bit, but if he can learn it, anybody can learn it.”
square
Amy Cartwright opened The Costume Shop in Russells Point, Ohio, four years ago. She chose Square POS because it appeared to be economical and some of her friends who worked in retail recommended it.
For hardware, she selected Square’s cash register with cash drawer, receipt printer and scanner, and she’s been happy with that equipment.
She adds inventory somewhat manually, though she says that’s because she has not taken the time to learn how to do it otherwise. Once that’s done, Square keeps track of inventory in
real-time, and it can be set up to send an email when inventory on a particular item drops too low.
Cartwright likes Square’s reports. For example, she appreciates a report that tells her how quickly inventory is turning over and how many days of inventory she has left.
Sometimes she discovers new features that are especially useful. She recently learned about Square’s “favorites” feature, which allows her to hit one key to register the sale of an impulse item that doesn’t have a UPC code.
“So now if somebody grabs this little 3D-printed pumpkin that I sell by the register, I just have to click it and it’s on there,” she explains. “I don’t have to search for it in the system.”
Square also is available wherever she is.
“I can also use it on my phone,” Cartwright says. “So, if it’s after hours and somebody messages me on Facebook, I can look the product up, get them the total price with tax, and they can either Venmo me payment or I can invoice them right from my phone and they can pay for it right away. And the next morning I have it ready for them.”
LightsP eed
Narda Saunders, owner of Hocus Pocus Halloween in Cibolo, Texas, uses Lightspeed, another popular POS system. However, when she chose her POS system 12 years ago, she selected ShopKeep. That system was acquired by Lightspeed three years ago, so she’s using a version that is different from those who select Lightspeed now.
The fact that she’s using a hybrid system may explain why she’s not 100 percent satisfied with her POS. For example, she inputs new inventory entirely manually.
“You’re going to laugh, but I sit here and put in every item by hand,” says. “I have imported inventory with the CSV file, but the problem is I have too many items alike, so it kicks a lot out.”
However, once the data is entered, the system does manage inventory well. It removes sold items in real time, as expected.
She’s also somewhat unsatisfied with how the system integrates with her internet sales, which she blames on the fact that she created her website using Wix. The connection between Wix, Lightspeed and Google is not optimal.
“I’m looking at Google right now and out of my 3,800 items,
3,100 of them are ‘Limited Access,’ which means they’re not even showing up,” she says. “Google won’t approve it because they don’t like the way it links up with our merchant center from Lightspeed.”
On the other hand, Saunders is satisfied with her in-store POS system. She uses an iPad with a stand that hooks up to her cash drawer and the receipt printer.
She also likes the reports she gets.
“For example, it tells me the last five years’ sales we did during that week, so I can get a comparison of how we’re doing daily. That’s all fabulous.”
cLoVer
Bernie Garrido, owner of Bernie’s House of Fun in Brownsville, Texas, uses the Clover POS system. He has two locations and likes how the system coordinates sales and inventory between them.
“I can say, ‘What is a Store A doing for me?’ or ‘What’s Store B doing for me?’ and I can see that,” he says.
For hardware, he has stationary POS equipment at the counters and handheld devices. This gives him the flexibility to handle sales and manage inventory whether he’s in the office or on the sales floor.
He also appreciates that the system integrates with his QuickBooks accounting system through a third-party app. And the reports from Clover are worthwhile, he says. He runs reports that include sales by item, sales by employee, and overall sales.
Finally, he says Clover POS is easy to use.
“It’s super user-friendly,” he says. “Plus, Clover has tech support to assist. Most issues get resolved within 48 to 72 hours.”
Do you have an experience with a POS that you can share with other NCA members? We want to hear it! Please email Ed Avis at executivedirector@costumers.org. Also, stay tuned for more resources on this topic, such as a webinar and report.
Do a Demo
This article touched on the experiences of costume shop owners using four popular POS systems, but there is a lot more to check out before you make a choice. One tip made by several owners: Get a demo of the systems you are considering. That will allow you to see first-hand how well they will work for you.
Bernie Garrido
destination: your costume s hop how partnerships & events can drive business to your door
By Kathleen Furore
caufield’s novelty in Louisville is famous for its events. rose costumes in Denton, Texas is a fantasy land of embellished rooms, suspended bridges, spinning mannequins and more. How do these costume shops make sure their efforts inside and outside of their stores actually generate foot traffic that leads to sales?
During an NCA members-only webinar on September 9, Janine Caufield, owner of Caufield’s Novelty, and Annemarie Aldrich, owner of Rose Costumes, discussed their “out of the box” ideas and offered tips on how costumers can create a buzz that will drive business into their stores. We share excerpts from the conversation with our readers below.
eVents
caufield’s creepFest. This event, which started two years ago, offers a cornucopia of products from vendors who rent spaces on the store’s second floor.
“It used to be stock rooms,” says Caufield, who emptied the space to make room for more than 70 local vendors. “The first year we had over 5,000 people walk through the door throughout the whole day. This year, we did a two-day event and had almost 8,000 people walk through the door.”
The free-admission event is more than an opportunity to shop.
“We have picture taking opportunities. We have haunts entertaining our customers. We have stuff for the children — we try to make it a family-oriented kickoff to Halloween,” Caufield explains.
CreepFest has been so successful that this creative shop owner is extending it into the Christmas selling season.
“It’s going to be called Holiday Nightmare on Main Street. And it’s basically the same thing, but we’re going to have Krampus and Grinch and all the festivities going on,” she says.
rose costumes roaming c haracters and cirque du
horror. Denton, Texas recently named itself the Halloween Capital of Texas — a timely declaration for Aldrich, who last year moved from an old outlet mall off the highway to a century-old building in the town’s main shopping area called Denton Square.
“We’re really lucky with that — it’s 31 days of Halloween, so there are events every single day,” Aldrich says. “We are really just trying to get involved as much as we can.”
One particularly helpful feature of the month-long event is the presence of roaming characters who wander the streets of this Halloween Capital.
“The city is paying people to walk around the square in costumes that they get from us,” Aldrich says.
The shop recently put out this call for roaming characters on Instagram: “Are you interested in being a roaming character this Halloween season here in Denton? We will help you prepare a brilliant costume and save you 20% on your rental!
How can you pass that up?!”
Costumes for the town’s Cirque du Horror — an annual event Aldrich describes as “kind of like an old school, familyfriendly circus” and what the organizers call “a family-friendly, delightful descent into the macabre” also come from Rose Costumes.
Business Partnershi Ps
“You just have to take yourself into the community. You have to be out there,” Caufield says.
Caufield practices the advice that she preaches in a variety of ways.
On the first Saturday in October, for example, The Witches Brew Coffee will set up shop at Caufield’s Novelty, serving coffee while customers competed in the store’s Best Witch Hat contest. Customers who visit during the coffee-and-witch
hat event will get a coupon they can use when they visit The Witches Brew Coffee. “That does work to cross-reference with other businesses,” Caufield says.
Another partnership is the ongoing one Caufield’s has with the local Georgetown Drive-in — a business owned by a family that has been one of the shop’s regular customers.
“We have a booth set over there every weekend when they’re showing the horror movies. [The owner] came and said, ‘Hey, do you want to set a booth up and sell stuff out of it?’ And we said, ‘Sure, we’ll do that!’” Caufield says, noting that the booth is a trailer her husband built.
The partnership also has created an opening for future promotions.
“We need a name for our trailer and we’re going to have it painted. So, that’s going to be a contest for next year,” Caufield says.
on just for fun. We say, ‘Come on in and play dress up.’ I think that that’s a good part of the experience, as well.”
All of those things make perfect photo ops, too. “Customers love to be able to come in and take photos,” Aldrich adds.
A trip to Caufield’s also is an entertaining adventure.
“I think you need to make your shop a little bit of an experience when people walk through the door…you know, we have a dragon that lives under the steps!” Caufield says. media
And it has turned into a prime opportunity to get customers into the shop, too.
“This year in October, we’re going to have ‘Caufield’s After Dark’ and set the second floor up as an old-fashioned drive-in where instead of a car, we’re going to have chairs, and the old speakers and the concession stand,” Caufield says of the event planned for the third weekend in October.
creatiVe merchandising
For Rose Costumes, getting customers into the shop is all about the experience they’ll find inside.
“Our store is decorated as a kind of an amusement park — each section is almost like a living kind of set piece,” says Aldrich, who describes the scene as “kind of a circus where we have a lot of our clowns and ringmasters…and also a lot of our distress stuff, so kind of a more vintage, scary circus.”
There’s also a full-sized stuffed tiger in a cage, overhead trapezes, and an employee-built castle that houses the Iron Throne from the Game of Thrones.
The shop’s themed dressing rooms are another customerenticing feature.
“We have an Alice in Wonderland dressing room where when you walk in, you look up and there’s a whole table that looks like it’s kind of falling on you and [it looks] like you’re falling through the floor. And we have a Wizard of Oz dressing room with a giant Oz head that people just love,” Aldrich says. “We encourage people to just come in and try costumes
Reaching out to local press is another approach that can help drive business — and it’s one Caufield has tapped successfully. She’s reached out to the Louisville Courier Journal and has written articles for a publication from the Frasier Museum just down the street from her shop. She also works with the owner of Halloween Life, an online community for horror and Halloween fans.
“He does a Danger Run. They give clues and people try to find the haunted houses. I am one of the stops,” Caufield says.
And then there are the little things.
Caufield’s has a makeup artist who shows customers how to do horror makeup. She puts out “teasers” like, “This Saturday it’s Wig Day — so let’s try wigs on,” to get customers into the store. And she works with the city of Louisville to promote her events.
“If you want to host an event you can go to places like Louisville Tourism and say, ‘Hey, I’m having this event.’ They’ll put it on their calendar so when people come in, they’ll see that,” she says. “You just have to think of different ideas to get people in — that’s what we try to do.”
Getting customers into your store is never an easy task. And each store has its unique footprint and location that will determine the approach that works best. Caufield and Aldrich sum up what’s working for them this way:
“You have to reinvent yourself. You have to be creative,” says Caufield.
“We try to have one fun thing that we do every day just to keep the joy — because it’s hard out there for all of us right now to continue in this economy,” Aldrich concludes. “I think if you kind of seek the joy the money will follow. So that’s really what we’re trying to do.”
A roaming character outfitted with a costume from Rose Costumes
PRODUCT PARADE
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elope deluxe Jack sparrow kit. Your customers will love the perfect captain look this costume delivers! The kit comes with everything you need to jumpstart your swashbuckling style, from the red headscarf to the waist sash! Email Hayley Scott at customerservice@elope. com; elope.com
ellie s hoes men’s Boots. Two styles, two great looks! 714-771-0015; ellieshoes.com
The 119-richard, an over-the-knee boot with back laces, is available in black and brown in sizes Small (8-9), Medium (10-11), Large (12-13).
The 119-macho with side zipper and front laces is great for wrestling costumes and cosplay; available in red and silver in sizes Small (8-9), Medium (10-11), Large (12-13).
manic Panic inter-gel-actic hair colors. Launching in the U.S. in March 2026, these hair colors are made with an innovative technique that creates a semi-translucent gel for bold, multidimensional shine with zero bleed or transfer. PPD-, ammonia-, and gluten-free. Available in Divine Wine, Celestine Blue, Pink Warrior, Red Velvet and Love Power Purple. 888-376-2642; manicpanic.com
PRODUCT PARADE
disguise officially Licensed costumes from universal Pictures’ Wicked. Everything you need to outfit Wicked fans! info@disguise.com; disguise.com
elphaba deluxe adult costume (166409) is crafted from rich purple, two-tone textured taffeta with a fitted bodice that has dimensional shoulders and a detachable uncrushed panne cape. Elphaba’s signature witch hat is included.
hat (172619) features a tall, twisting silhouette and shapable brim. Crafted with black crinkle-textured fabric and trimmed with tonal ruffles with a deep purple underlayer. (Shirt and makeup not included.)
glinda for good deluxe c hild costume (173489) captures Glinda’s signature sparkle with a bodice in a purple/blue/pink swirl print; shimmering sequin trim; sheer silver sparkle sleeves; flutter shoulder; and full-length skirt with foil-printed butterfly wing outlines.
camden Passage Look Lenses. These theatrical contact lenses are popular year-round for parties, festivals, costume events and comic conventions. Once opened, they can be used for up to 90 days. Fully compliant with US FDA and Health Canada requirements for the manufacture, storage and distribution of contact lenses. Available in 216 designs, in stock. camdenpassage.com
NCA
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For full details, see the advertising contract available at www.costumers.org. Contact Ed Avis at 708-218-7755 or executivedirector@costumers.org.
M Y F AVORITE C OSTUME
Katherine Sprague
Safari Pearl
Moscow, Idaho
More than three decades ago, a small shop opened quietly in Moscow, Idaho. Katherine Sprague, then just 23 years old, started Safari Pearl in what she calls a “sleepy college town” to sell products to local comic book fans.
Today, Safari Pearl — which recently celebrated its 37th birthday — remains an outpost for comic book shoppers. But it’s grown to be so much more.
“We have year-round costumes paired with board games, comic books, and puzzles of all kinds,” Sprague says.
How did Sprague decide to so significantly expand Safari Pearl’s inventory?
“We kept adding product and ended up at a trade show where Franco and several other companies had set up. When we were offered Halloween dating my brain exploded,” Sprague recalls. “Comic and game distributors wanted prepayment or offered 15-day dating at best.”
When The Costumer asked this successful costumer to pick a favorite costume, she focused on costumes currently on hand and chose one comprised of pieces from current inventory: a jacket from vendor Seeing Red and an older felt pirate hat from Jacobson Hats.
“The jacket reminds me of Belinda from Charades and the fabulous jackets she always wore. The hat is a nod to the wonderful team at JHat that has taken care of me for over two decades,” Sprague says before adding a final thought about her decades of work as a costuming professional.
“I love this industry and the connections I have made over the years!”
What is your favorite costume? To be considered for an upcoming My Favorite Costume profile, email Editor Kathleen Furore at kfurore@ yahoo.com.
Safari Pearl employee Megan Kingsley models a jacket from Seeing Red and an older felt pirate hat from Jacobson Hats.
