Halloween shops dusting off old costumes amid China tariffs

With Halloween on the horizon, Chicago Costume is stuffed. Packaged costumes, including superheroes and Japanese animation characters in both kid and adult sizes, dangle near colorful wigs and bottles of fake blood. Downstairs, vintage clothes from the 1970s beg for one more boogie night.

- By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO

The frightening possibilities mask the work that’s gone on behind the scenes to stock the family-owned shop and its sister store for the spooky season. Owner Courtland Hickey said he ordered 40% fewer costumes this year because of President Trump’s tariffs on products from China.

To fillthe gap, Hickey and his mother, Chicago Costume founder Mary Hickey Panayotou, looked to their decade’s worth of unsold costumes and accessories to see what could be repackaged or repurposed. The tariffs made new imports more expensive, and storewide price increases might spook customers, he said.

“If people have less money in their pocket to spend... then costumes are going to be lower on their list,” Hickey said. “So the more we have to invest in new products, the riskier it is for the business because we aren’t going to sellit.”

Tapping the old inventory required sorting through several thousand items stored in backrooms and a warehouse. Combined with fresh accessories, vintage pieces once reserved for rentals created complete costumes. A surplus ofblack robes became the foundation for Halloween wizards, judges, choir members and graduating students, Hickey said.

“They're a staple piece that gets transformed by the accessories we pair with them,” he said.

Some of Chicago Costume’s 35 employees also sewed fabric scraps and foam material into imitations of the miter headdresses worn by high-ranking Catholic clergy. Paired with a robe, the headwear would let someone dress up as Chicago native Pope Leo.

Panayotou founded Chicago Costume in 1976 by custom designing and renting costumes for the Windy City’s theater companies. It fast became a destination for nonactors looking for Halloween outfits.