Final curtain for costume shop
Unable to compete with online shopping, Southern Importers is closing after 104 years
Fake Roman helmets lay opposite American Independence Day caps. Behind them were endless rows of wigs, garlands, plastic vampire teeth, toy handcuffs, magic wands and hundreds of costumes.
Southern Importers, a family-owned business on San Jacinto in the Museum District, has been a destination for Houstonians for generations. Now, after 104 years in business, it will close Saturday, done in by shifting shopping trends and e-commerce.
“It is time,” said Milton “Mickey” Frost III, owner of Southern Importers. “I am
going to be 79, and I should take some time with my family. I am happy we had all these good years.”
The property, valued by the Harris County Appraisal District at $1.7 million, has been sold to developer Texas Group. Danna Sivan, a principal at the investment company, said it was planning a mixed-use project for the site that would “cater to the up-and-coming neighborhood.”
Frost said he is closing the business in part because he had no one to take it over. His two children — a daughter who runs a wellness business in Atlanta and a son who’s a physician in Colorado — chose different careers.
But ultimately, he said, the store could no longer
compete with online retailers. Frost said he considered shifting the sales online but dismissed the idea because of the costs of developing a robust e-commerce site.
He also believed that customers would continue coming to the store to try on costumes and check the quality of fabrics. But eventually, even loyal customers started to order online. Some, but not all. Carolyn Johnson, 73, a longtime customer, came into the shop recently to buy fringe for her rodeo jacket.
“There are very friendly people working here,” she said. “You would like to come back.”
Family ties
Southern Importers was established in 1915 by Frost’s uncle, Isadore Richker, on the second floor of the former Prince Theater on Fannin. In 1932, Frost’s mother, unable to afford college in the midst of the Great Depression, joined her brother. She married Milton A. Frost Jr. a few years later, and in 1958 they bought out her brother.
The business moved to Louisiana Street, where it spent the next decade, before relocating to its building on San Jacinto. At its peak, the business had 35 employees; five were working there as it prepared to close.
Frost did not seem destined for the family business. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical and aeronautical engineering and material science and worked for General Dynamics for 10 years.
But he joined Southern Importers in 1976 and has no regrets about leaving engineering behind.
“I wanted to be able to help my father doing just everything he wanted,” he recalled.
Schools and theaters
In addition to drama teachers and Halloween costume shoppers, Southern Importers did a lot of business in its early days with the local theater community, selling decorations, fabrics and costume accessories. Becky Udden, chief executive of Houston’s Main Street Theatre, said she was a client of the store for almost 50 years.
“This is such a loss,” she said. “It’s hard to buy stage makeup on the internet.”
Southern Importers was more than a store for many Houstonians. It was not uncommon to see lines of people snaking out into the parking lot waiting to get in as Halloween approached.
“If someone from my family wanted to come and visit me, they had to park in the next block,” Frost said.
Among the people who will miss the business is 74year-old Barbara Blacknall, who has worked at Southern Importers for 55 years.
“I hate that this is closing,” she said of the store. “It was fun to work with people.”