Deb Rowles, co-owner of Level 13 Theme Rooms and Costume Hire. Photo / Annabel Reid
Cheap online shops and changing habits are sending costume hire into decline, a Rotorua business owner says.
Deb Rowles grew teary speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post about shutting down the costume hire side of Level 13 Theme Rooms and Costume Hire.
But she had “no choice”.
“We’re just not earning enough money to even pay wages,” Rowles said.
People weren’t partying as they used to, plus it was “easier” to buy costumes online, she said.
“We tried so hard to keep it open ... we just can’t do it.”
The business began as a costume hire shop before expanding in late 2019 to include themed rooms, a bar and events such as quiz nights and musical performances.
The venue/events side of the business would remain open.
Its costume hire service had run for 42 years.
Rowles, who co-owned the business with Jeff Flitton for 22 years, said it was the only costume hire service left in Rotorua.
Costumes once flew out the door.
When the shop was on White St, it ran five days a week, with staff flat out fitting, fixing and prepping outfits for every occasion, Rowles said.
Rows of costumes filled the store, from 1920s flapper dresses to 60s and 70s attire, medieval gowns, and outfits of superheroes and famous characters.
Some pieces were more than 50 years old, Rowles said – reused repeatedly for school productions, themed parties and events.
Others had been handmade or collected over decades, with racks organised by era, character and theme.
Rowles said hiring had been “going downhill for quite some time”.
Very few people had come into the shop in the past few months.
Rowles said she would “be really panicking now” if they hadn’t already decided to close.
Ultra-affordable online retailers such as Temu and Shein had made costumes more convenient to buy, she said.
“You can’t compete,” she said.
The business also “never recovered” from the impact of Covid-19.
Rowles said at one time, people went out “regularly” and the business was “tracking really well”.
Now, “they aren’t partying as much as they used to … they got used to not going out”.
She said the cost-of-living crisis meant “discretional” spending was no longer a priority.
“It’s not the same thing as needing food.”
Rowles said the start of the year had been looking “a little bit brighter”, before conflict in the Middle East added further uncertainty.
She couldn’t help but think: “When’s it going to end?”
Rowles said costume hire was not something that could easily be handed over to a new owner.
“It’s quite daunting for someone to come in and run this,” she said.
The job required knowledge of different eras, fabrics and styles, as well as the ability to size customers quickly and accurately.
“You’ve got to be able to look at someone and tell what size they are.”
It was labour-intensive. Every costume had to be cleaned, repaired, pressed and rehung after each hire.
Rowles said the themed rooms and bar had been on the market for about six months and would be “more sellable” without the costume hire side.
Closing was especially “sad” for Rowles because costumes were her passion.
She would “always keep my eye out for interesting things”, often picking up pieces from op shops.
Rowles tried to take a more sustainable approach, reusing materials where possible and even making reusable bags from old costumes.
“It’s going to be very odd, not having a connection with costumes after so long,” Rowles said.
She wasn’t “prepared” to let them go because “they’re just beautiful things”.
Rowles is selling the collection to the community, hoping the costumes will continue to be used and loved.
Public sales will run from April 20 to 22, from 5pm to 8pm each evening, with limited numbers allowed in at a time, at 1141 Eruera St.
Items will be sold for “reasonable” prices, with some higher-value pieces priced higher.
Some costumes have already been snapped up by schools and community groups. They provided costumes for this year’s Rotorua Dancing for Hospice publicity photos.
Rowles said she would keep a small number of costumes she couldn’t bring herself to part with.
The closure had been shared with followers on the business’ Facebook page.
One commenter described the closure as “devastating”, recalling being first dressed in the business’ costumes at age 11 and having continued to return – now aged 32. They said they came back for dress-ups for school, theatre and work events over the years.
Many others echoed the sentiment, saying they were “sad” but understood why the business needed to close.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.