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By Ed Avis
If you happen to be in Ashland, Oregon when their Halloween parade rumbles through downtown, you’ll notice a distinct lack of sameness. People in this town pride themselves in creating their own looks.
“It’s a very casual parade,” notes Ann Wilton, owner of Renaissance Rose, a 44-year-old costume shop in Ashland. “Several thousand people walk down four blocks with a samba band leading us. All the merchants give out candy along the route. We do it at 4 o’clock in the afternoon so it’s light out so you can see all the costumes. You see some amazingly innovating things.”
That spirit of homegrown fun is one reason Wilton’s store has survived so long. Two-thirds of Renaissance Rose is dedicated to new and rental costumes as well as Wilton’s collection of vintage clothing. The rest of the shop is novelty gifts, makeup and accessories. She carries a lot of products from elope, West Bay, KBW, Pirate Dressing, Leg Avenue and the Rubies family, all designed for mixing and matching. Customers who want an individualized look can always find something there.
“People in Ashland want to put together their own costumes – they don’t want to be like everybody else,” she says. “People here plan their Halloween costumes for months.”
But this upcoming Halloween may be Wilton’s last as owner of Renaissance Rose. She has owned the store for the past decade and is ready to retire. She would like to sell the business rather than close it, because it is successful and has lots of life left.
“We get people even from San Francisco who say, ‘We don’t have anything like this,’” Wilton says. “It’s flattering to be told how well-stocked we are and how unique and unusual our stuff is. And affordable. We’re not a super expensive store.”
Thriving in Ashland
Ashland is a town of 20,000 with a lively downtown. Wilton says there is no shopping mall on the outskirts and the local residents believe in the “shop local” mantra, both of which have helped the downtown remain vital.
The town is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which brings in thousands of costume lovers each season (well, at least when COVID isn’t around). Wilton has a collection of costumes from the festival that customers can peruse up close. The festival’s own costume shop is not open to the public, so costume aficionados who want to see the goods need to visit Renaissance Rose.
Wilton says there are many other local attractions that produce a steady flow of customers to her store. For example, the local historical society holds cemetery tours that require costumed presenters, and people attending tea parties at Lovejoy’s Tea Room stop by for fancy hats, gloves and fans. Even people traveling to Burning Man, a six-hour drive from Ashland, routinely stop at the store for steampunk goggles and other festival attire.
Furthermore, the store dresses customers who are planning themed weddings – fairy tale romance, pirate, Lord of the Rings, etc. – private murder mystery events, themed cruise nights, and other such events. And the local school has two programs, Night of the Notables and Day of the Dignitaries, that require students to wear costumes. Wilton gives the kids 50 percent off.
“And in addition to the hugely popular Halloween parade, we do a big 4th of July parade, a Pride Week parade, and a Christmastime holiday parade,” Wilton says. “They are all popular, and we pull in people from all over southern Oregon.”
All or Parts
Wilton says she is open to selling the business complete or she could divide into a retail store and a rental business. The store is located in a neighborhood called the Railroad District, which also houses a number of vintage Victorian homes. The current staff would like to stay.
“I don’t want to see the store disappear,” she says. “The word ‘renaissance’ means rebirth, and it was reborn in 2010 when I bought it and I would like to see it reborn again.”
Interested? Contact Wilton at annwilton@gmail.com.