Once upon a time, a time before there were Blagojevich masks; before billions were being spent on Halloween costumes and candy; before lawns, houses and apartment windows became lavish displays of pumpkins, witches and spreading spider webs, a very nice man named George Garcia was selling wigs out of the trunk of his car.
That was decades ago when Garcia, fresh out of military service, was hustling for a living. He would eventually have five wig stores, but when business turned sour, he retreated to what had been his wig warehouse, a storefront on Milwaukee Avenue.
He scraped by until he started to notice that his customers, especially around Halloween, were asking his advice about and help with costumes. So, he began stocking more than wigs, and he did OK, and he began buying the adjoining storefronts. He first rented them to such tenants as a tailor shop, a pizza joint and, Garcia proudly contends, “the largest AT&T store in the city.”
But Halloween would not be halted, and eventually all those stores became his, and his costume operation occupied the entire block.
The address of Fantasy Costumes is 4065 N. Milwaukee Ave., and if you have not visited the place, then you have been missing out on one of the great Chicago experiences.
Think of it, if you are imaginative enough: more than 20,000 square feet crammed with 1 million items, including more than 5,000 masks; 30,000 costumes in hundreds of styles for children, adults and certain pets; a full line of makeup and accessories; party goods, from colorful banners to paper plates; promotional and adult items; gag gifts and magic tricks.
“I like to think of this,” Garcia says, “as a buffet.”
He and his staff, which includes his delightful longtime fiance, Mary Giovenco, are able hosts, almost never frazzled even during this frenetic time of year.
The National Retail Federation predicts that sales of Halloween products will jump nearly 4 percent over last year, reaching something in the stunning neighborhood of $6.2 billion. Nearly 20 percent of those sales will be online, but a great deal will also come from that relatively new phenomenon called the pop-up store, a concept made for holidays. Pop-up stores are retail outlets that open for a couple of days or weeks in a temporary retail space, here today and gone tomorrow. A fairly well-stocked Halloween pop-up store has sprouted at 53rd Street and Lake Park Avenue, in what was once a video shop. It is estimated that there are some 15,000 Halloween pop-ups nationwide.
Fantasy Costumes is a permanent space, a landmark for many and, for me, the greatest costume store on the planet. It is in business year round, in case you are interested in an Easter Bunny costume or really want to enliven some other holiday or office party.
“I never want someone to walk in here and want something and have to say, ‘We don’t have that,'” says Garcia.
Beginning Friday, the store will be open around the clock. It will finally close at 11 p.m. Halloween night, just in case there’s some straggler who forgets a costume on his way to a party and needs to run in and shout, “Quick, you got any Oprah masks left?”
