Jerry Purvis flitted from trade show to trade show earlier this year collecting costumes and props for his store, Dallas Vintage Shop, which is known for selling expensive, high-quality products. He spent between $50,000 and $75,000 on hats, gowns and historical costumes for the Kentucky Derby, the Scarborough Renaissance Festival, St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, gala balls and prom.
Then COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders hit. And all events requiring costumes were canceled nearly overnight.
Purvis canceled all the orders from trade shows that he could. But it was too late for some. Boxes of unused prom attire still line his Plano store. Over the past few months, his 20-year-old shop went from making $2,000 to $4,000 a day to $0 a day. He estimates his business lost at least $100,000 and fears the shop may not make it.
Events won’t be back for a while, Purvis said, maybe not even by Halloween.
And in a time of sadness over the 110,000 U.S deaths from COVID-19 and protests over police violence and systemic racism, no one wants a costume, Purvis said.
“Costumes are for happy people, and people aren’t happy,” he said.
As Purvis strategized in March about how to save his business, he realized his store was worse off than restaurants, which could still offer curbside pickup and takeout because people always need to eat. People didn’t need headdresses. Costumes weren’t essential. The Small Business Administration advised him to fire all his employees.
But there was one piece of apparel people were still buying: protective masks.
“That’s all we’re able to sell now,” he said. “We’re not a costume store; we’re a mask store.”
Dallas Vintage Shop makes 200 to 300 masks a week as a way to keep six people — including four single parents — on payroll after its Paycheck Protection Program loan quickly ran out. But the business isn’t selling nearly as many as it’s making.
On Monday, the store sold one mask for $15.14. On Tuesday, it sold three masks for $75.99. And many days, there are no sales.
“Seventy-five percent of the time, it’s just us in the shop — no customers,” he said.
Purvis had also borrowed $30,000. In a dire position, Purvis decided to humble himself and reach out to his most loyal customers to see if they needed masks. On Wednesday, he contacted a longtime customer in Las Vegas, and she gladly bought 34 masks for $500.
“I try to go about it right because I don’t want to corner people or beg,” he said.
But he would do anything to stay open for his employees, he said. None of his six employees have missed a paycheck — only Purvis has. The air conditioning is still out on his truck — even during a Texas summer — so he can maximize funds for his employees, he said.
One employee, Ismael Padilla, is a single dad with three kids who has worked with him for 17 years. Purvis’ seamstress, Maria Escobar, helps support her children and grandchildren in El Salvador — which just had terrible flooding from Tropical Storm Cristobal — after she legally immigrated to the U.S.
“It would break my heart to see them lose their jobs,” he said.
With the store’s access to quality fabric, Dallas Vintage Shop has one of the widest selections of patterns to pick from for masks in his physical store and online. He said the shop floor is covered with scraps of fabric from popular designs, which include tie dye, the American flag, the Texas flag and camo for adult masks and, for children’s masks, unicorns, ladybugs, Batman, Princess Elsa from Disney’s Frozen and Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story.
But even with masks, he’s learned that people aren’t in the mood for anything too loud or cutesy. At first, his team experimented with creating sets, like a poodle skirt with a matching mask for kids. But people didn’t want that. They felt they were supposed to be in mourning, he said.
His latest idea is to start creating masks for holidays since people don’t need costumes for them. First up, on June 19, is Juneteenth, the celebration of the ending of slavery in the United States. The commemoration holds special meaning this year as it comes amid ongoing protests over the Memorial Day death of George Floyd.
This week Purvis also printed out flyers advertising 'unique and fashionable’ face masks and asked his employees to hand them out to friends and neighbors.
Costume shops at the national level have also shifted to mask-making to survive.
New York-based Rubie’s Costume Co. Inc. — the world’s largest designer, manufacturer and distributor of Halloween costumes — has struggled with declining sales for years. On April 30, it filed for bankruptcy protection, citing an inability to secure new financing because of COVID-19. Within the past two months, it started making hand sanitizer and masks to sell to individuals and retailers. In addition, its overseas costume factories started making PPE products, including masks, gowns, and gloves for hospitals.
Rubie’s is known for securing licenses from big-time movie and TV creators like Disney, Nickelodeon and Marvel in order to create popular character costumes like Spiderman and Cinderella. Kids everywhere sift through Rubie’s costumes at Amazon, Walmart, Target and Party City each October to select the perfect Halloween costume.
But this year, Purvis doesn’t think there will be a Halloween. Or if there is, it will be at 50% of the level of a normal year.
“I’ve had customers say they don’t want to do Halloween this year because it might offend people,” he said. “When people are dying, it’s incorrect to be happy or to wear a costume or to throw a themed party.”
