Like Christmas, Halloween comes but once a year. And, while running a business based on a holiday that vanishes as quickly as it appears may seem frightening to some, retailers that specialize in the spooky season employ some pretty inventive tactics to ensure success year-round.
“Halloween is definitely a very busy time of year, but, lucky for us, the costume business is no longer limited to October 31,” said Donna Dobo, who founded Vancouver’s Just Imagine … Fun Clothing, Inc. with her sister, Sharon Edelmeier, in 1988. “Theme parties for kids and adults happen all year – even club nights these days are themed and require you to dress up.”
In its early days, Just Imagine strictly sold playwear – dress-up items for kids – from a 300-square-foot space at the back of a Dunbar Street shop. Today the company has two locations – on West Broadway (complete with its own performance stage and vintage red-velvet seats salvaged from the old Varsity Theatre on West 10th Avenue) and in Granville Island’s Kids Market – plus a 2,000-square-foot Kitsilano warehouse from which costumes are shipped to customers around the world.
Business, said Dobo, grows annually by about 20%.
“At first we refused to be a Halloween store even though we carried capes and crowns and magic wands. We were very adamant that we were providing playwear for children. I think that made us strong because it forced us to understand how to supply our clients year-round.”
In addition to thousands of costumes and accessories for kids and adults, Dobo keeps her stores stocked with children’s dancewear, kid-sized ballet, jazz and tap shoes, and formalwear, including special-occasion dresses for girls and tiny tuxes for boys.
“In the 20 years we’ve been in business we’ve discovered things we can do in the off-season to make a lot of money,” she confirmed. “We tried swimwear; it didn’t take. But dancewear is huge. It’s become somewhat of a tradition to bring children to Just Imagine for their first dance-shoe fitting – and their first twirl on the stage.”
Michael Nathanson, marketing manager for the Party Bazaar, agrees. Although his West 2nd Avenue party-supply and costume store’s windows are currently decked out in orange and black for Halloween, he told Business in Vancouver that “maintaining our success the other 364 days a year is paramount.”
“We’re much, much more than just a costume and accessory store … and we put a lot of effort into getting the word out about that. Marketing and advertising, whether on transit, in print, on the radio or through local TV stations or, more recently, through social media like Facebook and Twitter, has been very, very positive for us over the past 30 years.”
Although the Party Bazaar successfully supplies the Lower Mainland’s event-planning industry with everything from balloons and helium tanks to popcorn makers and candy floss machines, Nathanson admits that business tends to boom as October approaches.
“The general public starts asking about Halloween in the summertime,” he said. “It gets busier and busier closer to the big day – so much so that we decided to do something different this year and open our first [temporary] pop-up operation.”
The Flying Witch – a Halloween-specific retail store – “popped up” on September 1 in Langley and “will fly back to her lair in the first week of November.”
“It’s just another way for us to better serve our customers in the days leading up to Halloween,” Nathanson said. “But we carry many other items that are also very popular throughout the year. Bachelorette supplies, for instance – we could open a pop-up store just for that.”
In North Vancouver, the Boo La La costume store (formerly Carol’s Costume Corner) also strives to remain relevant year-round.
“We go by the motto that life’s more fun in costume,” explained Laurie Sluchinski, who recently bought the costume-rental-and-sales shop from its original owner after working there for five years. “There are always celebrations happening that people like to dress up for, outside of Halloween. It’s critical to my success to stay aware of the calendar holidays and what the community is doing, and to do my best to style them for their special occasions.”
Like Dobo and Nathanson, Sluchinski has seen a growing trend in themed birthday parties, pub nights and even weddings. She also supplements her business by costuming local theatre groups, burlesque dance troupes and independent film productions.
“It’s as much about planning ahead as it is about being flexible and innovative as things come up,” she explained. “We also have a real love of customer service, so whether it’s Halloween or not, our clients know we can provide them with a head-to-toe boutique experience.”
“Every day is a special day,” added Nathanson. “It’s always someone’s birthday, or there’s a festival happening somewhere. I developed the tagline, ‘Celebrate every day,’ for the company, and we work really hard to help our customers do just that.”