Halloween draws hoards of students to costume shops

Halloween weekend in Bloomington can sometimes resemble something out of a Hunter S. Thompson acid trip.

Thanks to Bloomington’s costume shops, that experience can last year round.
The city has two main costume shops in town – Campus Costumes at 2530 E. 10th St. and Costume Delights at 336 S. Walnut St. – that are open all year. Despite their popularity during the Halloween season, both stores say they have adapted their focus to attract more than just the ghost and goblin crowd.

Theresa Williams, director of the Center for Education and Research in Retailing at the Kelley School of Business, says that’s crucial for the survival of such businesses.

“These stores can’t only focus on one day,” she said. “They should focus on parties, dinners, and other special events. Any means to celebrate is an opportunity.”
Campus Costumes has taken that advice even further.

They sell Christmas trees and Santa Claus costumes during November and December, Easter bunny costumes during the spring time and fireworks during the summer.

“We’re more of a costume/holiday store,” said owner John McGuire. “We adapt for the changing seasons.”

Costume Delights also changes its focus during the various seasons, but manager Tim Hanner says he’s proud to offer only costumes.

“We’re a true costume shop,” he said. “We do solely costumes year round.”
Hanner notes that for that reason, he doesn’t consider Campus Costumes as a threat to business.

“Every year at Halloween there’s a few spring up, ‘fly-by-night’ costume shops that take away some of our business, but to be honest, I don’t consider them a competitor,” he said. “We have 7,000 rentals and have been around for 30 years.”

Still, Hanner admits that the need to change might be forced upon him by the current economy.

He’s already added dance ware to the inventory in an attempt to lure the business of the various dance companies in Bloomington. But he knows costumes aren’t necessities in life.

“When people cut back, fun stuff like costumes are going to be out of people’s budgets,” he said. “We don’t have any plans on putting in a barber or baker shop yet, but I guess the economy will dictate that.”

McGuire, of Campus Costumes, is more open to the idea of shifting inventory to attract business, but said for now Campus Costumes will stick to what’s working.
“It seems like each year we add something major, but I just can’t think of anything else we could add,” he said. “We’ve pretty much honed in.”

However, don’t be surprised to see the economy affect McGuire’s plans, as well.
“I’m the kind of person that’s always trying to add new things to keep the sales up,” he said. “Who knows what the future will hold.”

For now, though, Halloween reigns supreme.

If financial problems are already starting to lessen the public desire for costumes, these owners haven’t noticed it.

“Pretty much all (this) week will be busy,” McGuire said.

Hanner is slightly more candid about the nature of costume sales in October.

“Halloween season is just absolutely crazy,” he said. “Everybody procrastinates and waits until the last few weeks, and then they all show up at once.”