Dazzling Costumes Will Transform Your Look
October 9, 2018Cornwall Ontario – With Halloween just around the corner, there’s no better time to stop in and see what Dazzling Costumes has to offer.
The year-round costume retailer officially opened the doors to their new retail store at the beginning of August and if you haven’t dropped by yet, their new Halloween display is reason enough to schedule a visit. From mad scientist to dazzling princess, the locally grown costume shop has the perfect disguise for your holiday festivities.
While the location at McConnell Avenue may be new, the business is anything but. The story of Dazzling Costumes is a piece of Cornwall history as they have been in operation since the 1980s. At first, owner Monique Primeau-Lascelle operated a costume shop out of her home. In her first year of operations, each one of her 102 costumes was hand-sewn.
The business quickly grew beyond the capacity of her home, as her stock reached 6000 hand-made costumes. This led Monique to acquire a retail space on Montreal Road. Operating as Costumes by/par Monique, the business deeply ingrained itself into the Cornwall community, catering to dance groups, schools and skating teams.
In 2002 the company saw an opportunity to grow in the direction of e-commerce, and in the process closed down the brick and mortar location. With the help of staff members Angele Lascelle and Renee Primeau-Warden, and the continual support of her husband, Mike, this strategy turned out to be a huge success. The company expanded to a 3000 square foot location simply to house inventory.
Sales have continued to increase, and the company quickly jumped this year at the opportunity to acquire a 15,000 square foot location in Le Village.
The new location allows the business to operate a retail store on the first level and have enough storage for the e-commerce store on the other 3 floors. Monique is now able to keep 5 staff members employed throughout the entire year, with a total of 12 during the peak season. The business fulfils all of their shipping through Cornwall, servicing countries around the globe.
The store shelves are currently decorated with Halloween costumes and props, but the store offers much more than that beyond the fall season. As a year-round business, Dazzling Costumes carries pop-culture items, ladies bags, lingerie as well as naughty and nice novelties (housed safely away from the eyes of youngsters touring the store).
While Halloween is still a month away, sales are already brisk.
“We’re always keeping up with the current trends so that we can bring our customers what they want,” says Monique.
A quick look around the store is a confirmation to this statement as costumes range from kid-friendly Paw Patrol to all-ages superhero costumes, to the ever-popular Harry Potter, traditional monsters, steampunk and the animated series Rick and Morty.
Monique knows just how important celebrating Halloween can be for a family.
“Our product lines take into account just about everyone,” says Monique. “We aim to fit every budget, offering economical to professional grade costumes.”
Dazzling Costumes is located at 305 McConnell Street in Cornwall. You can reach them by phone at 613-935-9356, or online via: