Pacific Northwest Costume in Redmond has been serving the community and giving people the opportunity to dress up for 33 years.

The store was started by Sherrill Taylor and Annetta Knight and is now owned solely by Taylor. But come next month, Pacific Northwest Costume will be closing its doors for good.

Taylor, a longtime Redmond resident who now lives in Kirkland, said the reasons for the closure are twofold.

The first reason Pacific Northwest Costume is closing is because after the store moved from its location at 16129 Redmond Way in downtown to its current location at 16134 N.E. 87th St. in 2010 — the third location in the store’s history — customers had thought the store had gone out of business, not that it had just moved.

Because of this, the store saw a drop in sales.

In addition, Taylor said more and more people are turning to the Internet for their costuming needs and are relying on brick-and-mortar stores less and less — also contributing to the store’s declining sales.

While these are the main reasons Pacific Northwest Costume are closing, Taylor also added that she is ready to try something new.

“I need a new adventure,” she said.

That adventure will still be in the industry as Taylor will be working as a sales representative for some of the costume lines she sells in her store.

VARYING COSTUMING NEEDS

Taylor, who studied illustration and graphic design at California State University, Fullerton, and Knight first came to work together as they were neighbors in California. Taylor said her former business partner had a background in costume design, while she — Taylor — had her art background and retail experience.

In creating custom costumes, Taylor said it was not as difficult as she thought it would be going from creating the two-dimensional art she was accustomed to in school to creating three-dimensional work.

Some of that work has included creating the costumes for the City of Bellevue’s Pedestrian Safety Bee as well as the fruits and vegetables for the state’s 5 A Day program. Taylor said they have also worked with local theater groups such as the Bellevue Youth Theatre and SecondStory Repertory in Redmond Town Center.

In addition to meeting people’s costuming needs, Taylor said she has also helped girls and women with cancer find the right wigs as they go through chemotherapy, adding that she has also gotten the occasional male patient coming in to purchase a mohawk or mullet wig.

Taylor said this has been one of the most rewarding parts of her career in the costuming industry as she is part of helping people forget their illnesses.

“Just for a minute, you can be somebody else,” she said.

Taylor said while her lease is through the end of the year, she believes her store will be closed by the end of November.

During her 33 years of business, Taylor said the costuming industry has changed. When she first started, more people rented costumes, but when packaged costumes became more readily available, people turned to buying. Now people are trying to be more eco-friendly and renting has again become a popular option, Taylor said.

And with the store closing, Taylor is now selling those costumes that in the past were just for rent.

“All these things that were created are going up for sale,” she said.

A BITTERSWEET GOODBYE

Taylor said closing her store comes with mixed emotions. Her favorite memories in the store have been getting to know so many wonderful Redmond residents and young theater students — some of whom have brought their children to the store as they’ve gotten older.

As much as she will cherish these memories, Taylor said they are what makes it difficult to close her store. She said she will really miss the people she has met in the last 33 years.

Johnna Masterson, one of Taylor’s family members who has helped out around the store over the years, said Taylor will also be missed. She said Taylor has always put the store — and those inside, both employees and customers — first.

“She’s like everybody’s mom,” Masterson said.

But now that the store is closing, she said Taylor will now have more time to spend time with her family and do things she never had time to do before, such as take a vacation. But knowing this does not make things easier for Masterson.

“We know (Taylor) needs to move forward…but at the same time, (the store is) such a huge, long-term part of our lives,” she said.

And as the end of Pacific Northwest Costume nears, Taylor said she would like to thank the greater Redmond community for all the support she has received since the beginning.