The news came in last night followed by the new lament in my adopted home…”Welcome to the New Austin.” I don’t disagree with the sentiment. All the great things that made Austin special, great and weird are dying thanks to all the Californicators, Red Texans and/or their broods and Tech Brohs moving here. Inflation is nothing compared to all the shit this unholy trinity has done to rents and property taxes. But after 38 years, the owner is calling it a day and I’m confident the bloated rent on South Congress pushed them out. If I won the lottery, namely the outrageous billion someone in IL landed, I would find a way to keep them going with a new, larger location.
Oh, what is (soon to be was) this place? It’s Austin’s best costume store for rentals or buying; Starting on 8/31, the store’s inventory will be liquidated to the public yet Lucy will keep going until the end of the year, lessening everyone’s panic for Halloween 2022. I have great memories with Lucy and their very helpful staff. They assisted on my legendary 1995 outfit to go as Patsy Stone of Absolutely Fabulous, they had the captain’s hat I needed when I went as Daryl Dragon (Captain of Captain & Tenille), they rented me an excellent wool suit I wore for Alamo’s Clue quote-along since I tried to resemble Professor Plum and we scoured them last year to get the right jacket for Jennifer’s Cyndi Lauper. Best run-on sentence ever!
Lucy was the best solution especially when Costume World on the north side shut down about a decade ago. Will another incredible shop rise from Lucy’s ashes? I sure hope so. Those temporary, pop-up Halloween joints and Amazon “solutions” just don’t cut it. Sometimes you need to go shopping in person to find the right inspiration and assistance from experts.
Meanwhile…another wonderful element of Austin dies as we continue our slow, painful slide into becoming a hybrid of South Dallas, North Houston and Eastern Silicon Valley, complete with douchebags, Suzies and Teslas.