Rubie’s Costume Co.
Oct 29, 2014
Halloween 2014 is big business, with an anticipated record $2.8 billion in costume sales, reports the National Retail Federation, and one of the most prominent forces in costumes is located in the Flatiron District: Rubie’s Costume Co.!
Billed as the world’s largest designer, manufacturer, and distributor of Halloween items, Rubie’s Costume Co. is offering more than 150 licensed products to retailers this holiday season. Guardians of the Galaxy and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are among the many movie inspired costume collections featured in the company’s Flatiron showroom at 1115 Broadway and 25th Street.
Howard Beige, Rubie’s Executive Vice President, considers his company’s 24,500 square foot, single-floor property one of the businesses that make Flatiron the “Halloween center of North America.” Acquired in 2006, Rubie’s showroom is used for the firm’s global wholesale trade. “We meet and greet not only our U.S. customers, but customers from all around the world,” says Beige. “Part of the appeal is the fact that other people in the Halloween industry also have offices in this building, so it is convenient for our customers to see multiple vendors while they are visiting.”
Earlier this year, the company, which began as a mom-and-pop candy store operated by the Beige family in Queens more than 60 years ago, renewed its Flatiron showroom lease for five more years. “Rubie’s is very fond of this area for many reasons,” notes Beige. “The building is only one block from where the Toy Building used to be located at 200 Fifth Avenue. All customers who were coming to that building for decades are very familiar with the local area and what it has to offer. It is a busy area in Manhattan, yet parking is still convenient, and there is less vehicle traffic than most other places in the vicinity. This is also a very nostalgic area with a lot of natural charm.”
Image courtesy of Rubie’s Costume Co.
