Austin Efurd
Austin Efurd, owner of Looks Costuming on Haight in San Francisco
By Kathleen Furore, NCA Editor
The 2020 Halloween & Party Expo in New Orleans offered the opportunity to meet many NCA members—Austin Efurd, owner of Looks Costuming on Haight, was one of them. The story he shared about taking ownership of Costuming on Haight, a shop that had been a San Francisco institution for almost 3 decades, is a fascinating one that sheds some much-needed light on how to breathe new life into a bricks-and-mortar business!
NCA: How did you first become involved with Costuming on Haight?
Efurd: I had quit a corporate gig, traveled a while, and thought I was going to go back into the corporate world. Then I thought, “What am I inspired by?” An artist I followed on Instagram mentioned that Costuming on Haight was hiring for Halloween, and I thought, “Ok, I have a little time.” So I sent in my resume, interviewed, and was hired for the October 2017 season. It was supposed to be a gig for one month.
NCA: How did you end up owning the shop?
Efurd: After that Halloween, the owner asked if I would stay on and become Head of Community [which involved community outreach]. A few months later, there was an announcement that the shop was closing—I thought I was going to be asked to help close it. But it had been an institution in this spot for more than 25 years, and I thought, “That doesn’t make sense!” I dug a little deeper and realized that while the current model wasn’t sustainable, if we could change some things, the shop could survive. I asked the owner if he would be open to a bulk sale, named what I wanted to buy, and contacted the leasing agent. I had a good relationship with the owner of the building, who lived above the shop, and he agreed to keep the rent at the same rate. We changed the name a bit—to Looks Costuming on Haight—and the bulk sale officially went through in October 2018. It was stressful planning for that Halloween because I couldn’t do rentals until the sale closed. But I could buy stuff from vendors…and we ended up having one of the biggest days the shop had ever had that year.
NCA: How have you reinvigorated the business since you’ve at the helm?
Efurd: Customers are not coming in for just costumes anymore–most of the time they can buy them online for $5 to $10 over wholesale, so if that’s all you have they probably won’t buy it. You have to create an experience because they’re coming in for creativity! We’ve brought in what we call San Francisco’s “Creative Creatures” to be part of our “Creative Crew.” These are artists…creative people who need jobs and are part of the community. So we can do creative consulting now. People with makeup experience are in our makeup department, people who are inspired by wigs are in the wig area, and people who are good at coming up with creative looks are on the sales floor. We’re investing in them and they are investing in the shop…It’s this “Creative Crew” that’s making the shop work!
NCA: So, how has business been?
Efurd: We’ve increased revenue already. We did close to $100,000 more in sales for the 2019 Halloween season than we did in 2018!
Have a story you’d like to tell in an upcoming Q&A? Please email Kathleen Furore at kfurore@yahoo.com to let her know!