At legendary Kelowna costume store, it’s all over except for the memories

The ghost of Calowna Costume will haunt its beloved customers who get a good deal on exclusive pieces through the shop’s closing sale.

Kerri Brandel had to make the heartbreaking choice to close down her family’s business earlier this year, but she’s held out for one last Halloween and will close for good in the coming weeks. The store is bustling with customers. It’s filled with a bittersweet atmosphere as the community files through the aisles for a final hoorah.

“Over the last 40 years, we’ve had amazing customers and they’re still coming in. We have teenagers coming in, saying ‘my mom used to bring me here when I was little’. Adults saying ‘I’ve been coming in here forever, bringing my family in here, which brings us such joy to hear,’” Brandel said.

Calowna Costume is one of the last year-round costume shops in the region where people can rent outfits for theatre productions, cosplays and, of course, Halloween. The shop has been family-owned for decades and she said the closure has been emotional.

“Our hearts are a little bit broken, but when we hear all the good stories of everybody saying we love coming in, you guys made our day, one of the greatest compliments we got was they had more fun getting dressed up in our store than they had at the party,” she said with tissues in hand.

The store’s unique rental selection has been a draw for customers for years. There are rare vintage pieces dating back to around the 1930s. They haven’t been available for purchase, until now.

“We’ve had our rentals clearing out, so the costumes that you could only rent, never buy, were all now for sale,” she said. “We were really particular about our rentals, ‘no, you cannot buy that, that’s ours,’ and now we’re like, ‘here, buy it.’”

Some of the coolest costumes are marked down 75 per cent, and people have been coming to collect pieces they’ve had their eyes on for years. Brandel said some customers have rented the same costume for several Halloweens in a row, and now they get to take them home for good.

“It comes with a lot of memories, some of these costumes for people, and they were so excited that they could actually now buy our rentals,” she said.

Brandel said people have been coming through the doors constantly since the store announced it was closing down, offering her hugs, support and stories.

“We are so overwhelmed with the support, and just everybody coming in, and telling us these stories, and so when we hear these stories, we know we’re going to be missed, and it hurts,” she said.