Local stores facing costume shortage ahead of Halloween

Waterloo -

The ongoing global supply crisis is leaving many last minute shoppers scrambling to find a costume ahead of Halloween.

Costume shortages have been reported across Canada and the United States, leaving stores with dated products and low inventory. Many customers are complaining about the small selection, saying they can only find costumes that were popular last year.

“The super heroes, the new licences, things like Squid Game, Money Heist, we’ve just been unable to get what people really want,” Philip Cox owner of King of Magic said to CTV.

Cox said he’s made new orders but none of the shipments have arrived yet. He added that suppliers have been jacking up prices in wake of the high demand.

“We spoke with one of our suppliers who increased all his prices across the board 10 per cent,” Cox said.

Rose Hoffman owns The Costume Shop in Cambridge. She said the costume shortage is making it harder for brick and mortar businesses already competing with online stores.

“People will shop online first and when they can’t source it there, they start calling stores like ours,” Hoffman told CTV.

Store owners are asking customers to think of several costume ideas in case their first choice isn’t available.