The world around us is an ever changing place and with those changes, our lives are also ever changing. It wasn’t that long ago that so much changed with the world when it faced a sickness that scared us all. It pushed many of us to make significant life changes. This is where a man working in a local community theater received an email that would unknowingly begin a journey of significant life change.
Claire loved to sew and found a way to turn it into a full time career for thirty years by making costumes for elementary and high school plays. She and one other lady had a small family owned business and a website called The Costume Gallery from which they shipped rental costumes all over the United States. Claire had also had an opportunity to acquire some inventory from a Haverhill, Massachusetts costume shop, specializing in quality men’s fashion known as Hooker and Howe, which had closed. This shop’s records have been traced back to the 1930’s and 40’s through archives at the National Museum of American History.
During our health crisis here in the States, Claire re-evaluated her life and where she was at and decided it was time to move on from the costume rental business and pursue some other artistic avenues. She moved to North Carolina for semi-retirement from New Hampshire and brought the business with her but upon arrival decided not to continue the business, so she sent out emails to theater houses and rental businesses within about a day’s drive of her new location in North Carolina. One of those emails came to the Logos Theatre in South Carolina and was passed on to the head of the rentals department there. The decision was made to acquire the business to boost the theater’s own rental business and also allow them to utilize the costumes in their own shows. A couple Uhauls and a trip north for two days and The Costume Gallery became part of the Logos Theatre…sort of.
In order to buy the business, a man named Nathan, was asked to financially back the purchase for a 50% cut of the future rental sales from the inventory. Ultimately for reasons known and some unknown, this partnership did not pan out and the Logos Theatre stepped away from the daily operations of the business and Nathan took over sole ownership and responsibility for the business for about two years.
While the business was still being run by the Logos Theatre, the head of the rental department went onto broker two more deals with other costume rental shops that had also decided to close during this time of change in our country.
A man named Alex had purchased the remaining assets from a couple long standing and high quality shops for his own uses in theater. The Cumberland Keep of Cumberland, Maryland formerly owned by Lexie Haines and Master’s Costumes of Alexandria, Virginia. After several years of very successful theater, Alex decided to sell his inventory and change careers. His inventory was found for sale on eBay where the Logos Theatre, along with Nathan’s help also brokered a deal for acquisition.
It was during these negotiations that another family owned Halloween and costume rental shop known as the Illusive Skull was also selling their shop so they could retire after thirty years in business. This shop was owned by a wonderful lady who made high quality costumes named Pam. In the same pickup trip as Alex, Pam’s inventory was also acquired. Pam is still active in the costuming world as the director of the National Costumers Association.
The last significant act by the Logos Theatre in support of the business was to help transfer the business from their old warehouse location which was scheduled for demolition into a temporary location across the street in a small strip row store. Not all the costumes could fit in this location and so the Logos Theatre continued to store some of the inventory for another two years before ultimately being moved to its present location.
While in the small strip row store location, the Logos Theatre rental manager still continued to stop by from time to time and offer his help. After one year at this location, the lease was allowed to expire and the inventory once again moved to a basement storage location temporarily that was owned by Nathan.
Throughout all the transitions the business name changed several times going from The Costume Gallery to being part of Logos Theatre Rentals, and then to Best Costume Rentals, and back to The Costume Gallery before finally becoming The Magical Wardrobe.
Initially the basement location was one of the hardest times for the business, the space had many significant issues, the inventory was an organizational nightmare with no order at all and most of the staff that had been with the business had left. When the last two employees had taken all they could of the situation, they quit and told the manager of the business that it should be sold to either Tammie, a former employee and veteran show director and costumer, or to Josh, the rental manager over at the Logos Theatre, in hopes that it could be salvaged and return to the days when it had been a successful and popular online store managed by Claire.
Tammie ultimately returned not as the owner, but as a temporary manager to help Nathan’s manager keep the business open and the pending customer orders filled without any cancelations. Few will ever know what an endeavor it was to fill those rental orders in the spring of ’23 and how close the business came to shutting down forever. It was during this time that Emily joined Tammie in the business and became the employee responsible for shipping and receiving as well as overseeing the organization of all the costumes. Emily joined the team of one during the darkest days and we don’t know why or what she saw in the mess of it all, but maybe she saw the hopes and dreams for the business that continued to persist rising above all the garbage bags of messy and dirty costumes.
Tammie resurrected the administration, bookkeeping, and customer service of the business and Emily resurrected the costumes and then Josh came into the picture by becoming the owner of the business, acquiring it from Nathan, who believed Josh could bring it back and make it what everyone who has played a role in it had always hoped it would become and this is the part of the journey our inventory of costumes is on now as part of the new Magical Wardrobe.
More about Josh’s journey to acquiring the business can be read by going to “The Umbrella Story.”
