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If you want to talk to Aaro Froese, you’ll have to wait in line. His customers at Gotcha, 27 N. Tenth St., are rattling off a list of requests: vampire fangs, colored wigs, smear-proof face paint.
None of this fazes Froese. It’s just another day at work.
Oddest costume request?
Someone wanted to be a piece of meat. I gave him the idea to use cardboard.
Most creative costume you’ve seen?
This year a girl rented a gangsta costume and a maid costume and put them together. Your most noteworthy costume in childhood?
I was the coolest Spider-Man in the world one Halloween.
What should someone look for in a costume that turns heads?
Find something you feel comfortable in and something you’re into. For instance, an engineer would make a good leprechaun.
Do you get a lot of trick-or-treaters on Halloween?
Oh yeah. We give out the real-sized candy bars, so trick-or-treating here is like a trip to Mecca for kids.
What’s the best last-minute costume you helped a customer throw together?
It was 9:25 p.m. on the first Halloween we were open. There were hangers and empty racks and just a few pieces left.
This man walked in and said, “You’ve gotta help me.” So we gave him this all-white, non-fuzzy bunny suit.
Then we added a big, gold sash, took a broken sword and tucked it into the sash and threw a turban on his head. Now he was Ali Baba!
He ended up winning first prize and 350 bucks that night in a costume contest.
Any costume requests that you just can’t fulfill?
All the time. “I need the exact four-feet-tall shoes Elton John wore.” Even though Elton John kept them. So that’s tricky.
Describe working at Gotcha during the week of Halloween.
Dickens said it best: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
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