Editor's Note: This article was originally published in pre-COVID times. Some of the tips, such as holding a teen party in your store, may not apply in these days of social distancing. Use your own discretion!
By Ed Avis
Halloween used to be great for costume shops, right? All those folks piling into the store to get their costumes for trick-or-treating or parties meant your cash register was smokin’!
Then the 90-day wonders crashed the party. While you were emphasizing good customer service and quality products – and paying rent all year long! – places like Spirit and Halloween Hallway marched into town like a horde of zombies, rented vacant stores for a few months, and sucked the life out of the season by offering mounds of cheapie costumes to unsuspecting locals who thought they were gonna save a few bucks.
It was enough to make Frankenstein blow a transformer!
Well this year you’re going to fight back. When the big discounters stumble into town again come August, drool dripping from their low-quality plastic vampire teeth, they’re going face a new reality: The little costume shop they thought they crushed last year is back from the dead…and carrying a rifle loaded with silver bullets!
So pull on your scariest monster mask and start implementing these five tips for next Fall.
Tip 1: Make it Personal. That poor teen behind the counter at Spirit doesn’t know the difference between Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Seuss, much less that no self-respecting zombie walks around with dripping blood (they’re dead, remember?). What makes your store stand out is that you can offer truly expert advice about costumes and makeup.
“We work hand-in-hand with our customers,” says Terry Sinopoli, marketing manager of Arlene’s Costumes in Rochester, New York. “We guide them to things in the store, and explain how to work with them. Theatrical make-up can be whole new thing for some people. If you’ve never put on a fake mustache, you might need help doing that.”
The staff at Helen’s Pacific Costumers in Portland, Oregon take the same approach. “What I always tell people when they call about a particular costume from a historical period or from a movie is to download a photo on their phone and bring it in,” says Sally Newman, manager of Helen’s. “We want to make sure the picture they have in their had matches what they’ll look like in the mirror, so it’s important for us to be on up on those things.”
Make sure you and your staff do your homework so that everyone feels comfortable advising customers about their costumes and make-up, from the classics to the newest licensed movie looks. If you can’t remember everything, create “cheat sheets” with tips for every look and post them in convenient spots. Word will soon spread that if someone wants a great Halloween costume, they shouldn’t waste their time in line at Spirit when they can get the professional service at your store.
Tip 2: Make it an Experience. Halloween is supposed to be fun, so make the trip to your store fun, too! For example, schedule some dates in October for costume and make-up workshops – try making some for adults only, including wine and beer, and some just for kids to create memories for them. Make sure you and your staff dress up in your own favorite costumes to get customers in the spirit.
“We have people coming back year after year at Halloween,” Sinopoli says. “They make it a point to come in and see us with their kids every year. It’s their family thing to do at Halloween.”
Other ideas: If you have room, how about an event for teens, where the first hour is a make-up lesson and the rest of the night is a party? Or join forces with a local bar and hold a singles event that includes make-up stations where customers can experiment. Some stores take part in local “zombie walks” and offer their services in advance to get the zombies looking suitably creepy. All of these events help position your store as the only serious place to get Halloween costumes.
Tip 3: Don’t Price Fight: Those giant costume places have one advantage you’ll never be able to match – they can order costumes in huge volume and get great prices. Don’t fight that battle! Let them have the cheapie sales…you know some customers who shop there will end up in your store later anyway.
“We don’t do much business in the packaged costumes, so if someone just wants a cheap costume, we wish them luck,” says Mike Knerr, a manager at Cher’s Costumes by Margie in Indianapolis. “But we are the only option in town for the higher-end look, and we do the complete look. So rather than someone going to Target or the 90-day stores and piecing together things and spending $75 and still not looking great, they can spend $60 with us and get the whole look.”
If you can focus on quality and service – and show your customers that the price still might be better, as Knerr notes above – you’ll stop worrying so much about losing a few packaged sales to Spirit.
Tip 4: Use Your Friends. The 90-day stores lumber into town for a few months and skedaddle as soon as the sun sets on October 31, but you’re a member of the community all year. Use that to your advantage by having your many happy customers become store ambassadors.
“I ask customers to post on Yelp and Facebook about how much they’ve enjoyed coming into our store and playing dress-up and having a truly individual experience,” Newman says. “And they tell their friends, and their friends tell their friends.”
Having people post photos on Facebook has multiple benefits, Newman adds: “First of all, all their friends see the pictures and see that they got the costume at Helen’s Pacific Costumers. And second, people can scroll through the pictures and see the ideas and say, ‘That’s cool.’”
At Arlene’s in Rochester, an important part of last year’s Halloween marketing effort was a YouTube video the store created with their own family and friends showing off some popular costumes in the store. Arlene’s YouTube video was produced professionally and looks great, but with a decent smartphone and willing staff and friends, any shop can create quick video promo.
Tip 5: Tell the World: Your shop has the best selection, your staff are all experts, and you are a genuine part of the community – don’t hide all of that! Here are some low-cost ways to get the word out about your shop and your expertise this coming Halloween:
- Get involved in as many community events as feasible. Arlene’s helps many fundraisers in the Rochester area by inviting people into the store to buy costumes for events – such as The Ugly Disco, a fundraiser for the local children’s hospital – and donating 20 percent to the organization. Arlene’s also sets up face painting services as local events, such as the Lilac Festival.
- Maximize your social media. Cher’s Costumes by Margie partnered with a couple that creates YouTube videos while wearing costumes. One of them has over a million views! “Several people have come in and said, ‘We saw you on that video!’” Knerr says. His store also uses Facebook to spread the word whenever they do something for a local celebrity – recently they created a tuxedo jacket for the mascot of the local pro hockey team, a red dragon called Nitro, so that he could perform a wedding on the ice. “There’s not much Target can do for someone who needs a custom, dragon-size tuxedo coat,” Knerr explains.
- Position yourself as an expert on all things Halloween. Start a blog about Halloween costumes and makeup, see if you can write an article for your local paper, and try to get on a local radio show. When people read your work or hear you speak, your shop will be top-of-mind when it comes time to shop for Halloween costumes.
Whatever you do this fall, don’t assume that everyone just knows about you. Maybe 25 years ago you could count on your reputation to carry the day, but now you need to make a special effort to spread the word. Be proud that you are the best Halloween costume source in town, and be loud about it!
Halloween might never be like it was before the corporate types showed up and mopped up the low-cost Halloween sales. But with a little extra effort, you can show your community that shopping at your store is a fun, worthwhile experience that should become a family tradition. And just maybe you’ll be able to steal a chunk of Spirit’s sales this season for a change!
Ed Avis is the executive director of the NCA. Do you have other ideas for beating the big stores? Tell him: executivedirector@costumers.org
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