Anne Dorsey
By Ed Avis
When Anne Dorsey’s children were younger, they always wanted to dress up in costumes that were not available commercially. “They never wanted to be Superman,” she says. “They always wanted to be something completely different, so I was making Minecraft Creeper costumes and things like that.”
Dorsey learned a lot about costuming during those years and enjoyed the process. And she has a masters degree in business and owns an accounting business. So about two years ago she combined her costuming and business talents and launched a new costume retailer: McCabe’s Costumes in Winterville, North Carolina.
“We started as an online store, and the first year we were 100 percent online,” says Dorsey, who joined the NCA as a Buyer Member in July. “And that’s still the top part of our sales. Last September we rented a storefront. We’re in a college town, so Halloween weekend is crazy. All the college kids are looking for something for the big celebrations.”
Why did Dorsey choose McCabe’s Costumes as a name? “It's my grandmother's maiden name,” she explains. “The other family names we have just didn't seem to fit with opening a costume store. As a family-owned store, it seemed fitting to use a family name.”
Dorsey’s sales include a lot of packaged costumes, but she also helps customers create original costumes. She helps them sketch out their ideas and then sells them the materials needed to make the costumes.
She hopes to soon get into theatrical costuming. “Greenville is halfway between Raleigh and the coast. It’s very rural between here and the coast, and there are tons of schools that have theater departments but don’t have places to buy costumes except online.”
Dorsey says one challenge she has encountered as a new business is finding enough quality costumes to keep her store stocked. That is one reason she joined NCA, so that she can learn about other vendors.
If you get a chance, please welcome our newest member!