Jalem Getz, president of BuySeasons Inc., a New Berlin-based costume and decorations supply retailer, tapped into an untouched market when he founded the company in 1999. Getz started the company with two other workers operating out of a 3,000 square-foot facility.
BuySeasons has since become the largest online Halloween and party retailer in the world, under its flagship web site, Buycostumes.com.
The company moved into a new 360,000-square-foot facility in New Berlin in March, doubling its capacity.
“The move has had a tremendously positive impact,” Getz said. “We’ve grown rapidly and outgrew our facilities two years ago. This new facility has been great for our employees.”
BuySeasons employs 120 people full-time, but as the busy season of Halloween gets closer, the company hires seasonal employees to handle the extra workload. Seasonal employees work at the company for up to six months. By the time Halloween comes around this year, the company will have nearly 1,000 employees, Getz said.
“We have a nice, slow transition,” he said. “We start receiving (seasonal employees) around May.”
Many of the seasonal employees have other full-time jobs, but work part-time at BuySeasons to generate additional household income. Others participate in the company’s Community Outreach Program by working at BuySeasons and donating the funds to charities.
Getz expects to ship more than 1 million costumes this year.
“It’s a surprisingly long holiday,” he said. “Halloween has become the second-most decorated holiday behind Christmas, and people are decorating earlier every year. The busy season starts in the beginning of August.”
Getz expects the company’s number of full-time employees to grow by 15 to 20 percent over 2008.
“The whole industry has continued to grow, but we will continually grow at a faster pace than the industry,” Getz said.
One of the ways that the company stays on top of the industry is by offering a 110-percent price guarantee on its products. If a customer purchases a product from BuySeasons but finds the product for a lower price on another web site, the company will refund 110 percent of the difference.
“It’s all about the experience of the customer,” Getz said. “With our new facility, we are well ahead of any competitor in the number of products and in expertise. The best service goes along with that, so should they find something for less, we’ll refund the difference.”
BuySeasons Inc.
Address: 5915 S. Moorland Road, New Berlin
Website: www.buycostumes.com
Industry: Costumes, party supplies, decorations
Revenues: 13 percent growth in 2007
Employees: 120
