PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — From scary clowns to demon dolls, the Halloween Express store in downtown Palm Beach Gardens has it all.
“Halloween Express is about having fun, finding the most awesome costumes and decorations and just everybody coming together as a family,” Rene Schaefer said.
Schaefer and her husband have been in the costume business for a long time.
“My husband is the founder of Halloween Express,” she said.
That was three decades ago and now Rene says the scariest part about Halloween is their store sales.
“Forward 30 years now we are dealing with Amazon Prime and it chips away every year about 20 percent,” Schaefer said.
As of Halloween Day, Schaefer says the store is down 60 percent. She says when some customers come in they make it clear this is a second choice.
“Just because it’s right at the tips of my fingers. I have two jobs, so like I don’t have to worry about when I’m going to be able to come in and shop and do this and do that,” one customer told WPTV.
Amazon is even expanding in the South Florida area. Delivery stations and warehouses are opening in West Palm Beach and on the Treasure Coast. With Amazon promising prime service Schaefer is thinking outside the box for her business.
Studying the market and stocking her store with unique finds -- not letting the competition scare her away.
“There’s always going to be a market, but you just have to be prepared and it’s not going to be on the grand scale like it was,” she said.