Local costume store closing, owners reflect on legacy

BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) – A Valley business is closing after being open for decades.

Quinton and Diana Hoover, the owners of Quincy’s Costumes in Boardman, are retiring.

Before they can officially retire, however, they have some more costumes and extra goods to sell. Everything has to go from Quincy’s Costumes in this retirement sale, even the memorabilia they have collected over the years.

Quinton and Diana started from humble beginnings from just a small dance costume store that might as well have been the size of a closet.

“We didn’t have two nickels to rub together. We were able to borrow, I don’t know, $12,000. I said to my wife, it’ll be maybe one less car we’ll have in our lifetime if it doesn’t work out,” Quinton recalled.

After all these years, Quinton says they’ve been able to continue to compete with online giants like Amazon over the years and stayed on top — even being in a small town. The two have several businesses in the area — including dance supply stores, costume shops and even an outdoor recreation store.

The dance store next door will remain open as the Hoovers have passed the torch on to a business partner. The recreation store also stays open.

“We ran successful businesses in Youngstown, Ohio. It wasn’t in Columbus or Pittsburgh or whatever. It was in the Mahoning Valley, and we’ve grown the businesses to be some of the larger businesses in the country,” Quinton said.

Quincy’s Costumes strives to remain family-friendly for even Halloween shopping.

“We tried to carry, yeah, happier-themed costumes,” Quinton said.

Included in the retirement sale is unique memorabilia.

“There’s a lot of people that don’t realize what was inside these stores, and Market Street in Boardman that… they passed by. It was kind of a treasure in the Valley,” Quinton said.

The costume shop will stay open until everything is sold, at least through Halloween.

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