By Ed Avis
When a customer walks into your store and starts looking around, you know that eventually he or she is going to find something to like. Back in the B.C. times (Before Covid), you’d gladly let that customer try on a costume or mask and never think twice about it. But now? Trying on costumes is suddenly a scary situation. This is especially true when it comes to masks – nobody feels comfortable putting a mask on after someone else.
“How are customers going to come in and try on masks? How are they going to come in and try on anything, and feel comfortable with it?” asked Scott Morris, co-owner of Morris Costumes, during an NCA webinar about Halloween. “That’s going to be a challenge.”
It is a challenge, but that doesn’t mean your customers need to walk out empty-handed. During the past several months, the NCA has held webinars and done investigation into this issue. Here are five key points related to trying on costumes and masks that emerged from those efforts:
1) Customers understand that these aren’t normal times. These days if they want to buy a mask or a costume, they may not be able to see themselves in that get-up until they get home. “We have found in the last three months that we had a ton of online sales, so people were capable and happy of buying product … without actually putting on the mask itself,” said Franco Pacini of Zagone Studios during the NCA webinar about Halloween.
2) During busy selling times, such as in the weeks leading up to Halloween, consider designating an employee as the official mask tester, Pacini suggested. Have samples of your most popular masks available that this employee can slip on when somebody wants to see how a mask looks on a real person.
3) Use more mannequins. Putting a costume on a mannequin is not quite the same as allowing a customer to try it on, but it does give you a good idea of how it looks in action. Leave a couple of mannequins “naked” so that customers can slip on whatever costume they are interested in buying.
4) Consider using a mask liner. Several costume vendors, including Morris Costumes and Zagone, now offer liners and cover your head and mouth, to reduce the risk of virus transmission when customers try on masks. During the NCA webinar about Halloween, Morris noted that they will probably raise the price of masks for a dollar or two in their retail stores to pay for the disposable liners.
5) If a customer insists on trying on a costume, and you feel like allowing that is worth the hassle, you will have to clean the item before allowing anyone else to try it on. Washing the items per the label is the best thing to do (see the CDC guidelines below), but that’s not always practical. Steam cleaning is one option that has been tossed around a lot, though it’s not a sure bet. The CDC recommends steam cleaning for certain items, but they suggest steaming them for 30 minutes! The UK government says steam cleaning can be used for fabric items that can’t be washed, but they suggest keeping the steam on for at least 5 minutes. Even that amount of time is crazy difficult in a regular retail setting! Basically, if you can’t clean an item that someone has tried on, you’ll have to set it aside for at least 24 hours.
CDC Guidelines
Wear disposable gloves when handling dirty laundry from an ill person and then discard after each use. If using reusable gloves, those gloves should be dedicated for cleaning and disinfection of surfaces for COVID-19 and should not be used for other household purposes. Clean hands immediately after gloves are removed.
- If no gloves are used when handling dirty laundry, be sure to wash hands afterwards.
- If possible, do not shake dirty laundry. This will minimize the possibility of dispersing virus through the air.
- Launder items as appropriate in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. If possible, launder items using the warmest appropriate water setting for the items and dry items completely. Dirty laundry from an ill person can be washed with other people’s items.
- Clean and disinfect clothes hampers according to guidance above for surfaces. If possible, consider placing a bag liner that is either disposable (can be thrown away) or can be laundered.
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