Don’s Costume Shop and Makeup Shop — located at 1515 Centre St. N.W. — is hosting a party on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary milestone
In the mid-70s, Spicer hired an accountant, Sandy Bennie.
After about 30 years of working together, Sandy facilitated an introduction between his son, Scott Bennie, and Spicer. Spicer was preparing to retire, and Scott had expressed an interest in running a small business. Collectively, they decided that Scott would take over the store.
In 2002, ahead of taking over the business, Scott met with Spicer for one year to learn how to run the shop.
“He didn’t use any computers whatsoever,” said Scott. “A lot of things were just on notepads, binders, handwritten things.”
In 2003, Scott and Sandy purchased the hobby shop.
Scott took over day-to-day operations while Sandy took on an accounting role and acted as more of a silent partner, aside from Halloween seasons when he would come up from his basement office to help in the store.
Over the years, the store phased out hobbies and shifted focus to costumes and makeup, eventually changing the name to reflect the inventory. The store’s history precedes the name change, however, and Don’s Hobby Shop remains the preferred name among many Calgarians. Which isn’t wrong, Scott says, as the parent company is still Don’s Hobby Shop and just the store name changed.
‘Historical connection’
Though the location has since changed, the original store was located in Calgary’s Grand Theatre building, across the street from the Calgary Herald building.
Scott explained the importance of the two buildings’ proximity to each other, saying he has people in their 60s and 70s coming into the store now, reminiscing on days of working in newspaper delivery. They would pick up their cheques, cash them in the Herald building “and then walk right across the street into Don’s.”
“The guys would go in there and blow all of their paper route money on model kits and magic tricks and pranks,” he said.
“I love having that historical connection to the city.”
Scott was born in Calgary, so these stories are important to him as he likes to meet other people who have been in the city their whole life.
On his favourite part of owning the costume shop, Scott credited the customers. Anyone entering the shop, he said, is already in a good mood and having fun.
Whether someone is looking for an outfit for cosplay, a costume party, Halloween or coming in for a makeup workshop, Scott is elated to help.
The costume and makeup shop has been involved with Alberta film and theatre since the 80s, Scott said, when Spicer visited Los Angeles to meet with the owner of a theatrical makeup company. He brought the makeup, and knowledge from the visit, back to Calgary and the store has been selling to professionals ever since.
75th anniversary a celebration
Approximately 30 per cent of small businesses last 10 years, according to Statistics Canada, making a 75th anniversary all the more impressive. Scott credits his success in a challenging industry to lessons learned from Spicer, saying he kept notes of everything during the one year the two worked together.
The two would spend their days talking, with Spicer imparting words of wisdom and sharing “quirky little slogans,” Scott said, vividly remembering Spicer telling him, “If you don’t have it, you can’t sell it.”
Scott also credits his success to Sandy’s expertise in accounting and his professional relationships with a variety of businesses.
“Those two guys, I credit with a lot of the success for our store,” he said, adding that the store’s manager Charlie has helped a lot as well. Charlie has been with the store for 25 years, having worked with both Spicer and Scott.
Don’s Costume Shop and Makeup Shop — located at 1515 Centre St. N.W. — is hosting a party on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary milestone. Open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., partygoers can expect draws, hourly specials and deeply discounted items.