Delicious candy, carved pumpkins, spooky monsters and horror movies — Halloween is finally upon us. No place embraces the spirit of Halloween quite like a college campus. University of Oregon students are gearing up for this year’s annual “Halloweekend” that seizes campus life every year.
With every autumn comes the inevitable question: What am I going to dress up as this year? Arguably the most important task as the holiday approaches, thinking of and finding a costume can be a burden for some people. But, thankfully, there are cheap and easy options for Halloween attire right near campus.
Hirons Drug is a local pharmacy and drugstore that is very popular amongst UO students; it’s known as the go-to place for just about anything under the sun. Serving as a true one-stop-shop, stepping inside the store is a sensory overload — filled with all kinds of goofy trinkets, UO gear and school supply essentials. Leading up to Halloween season, the store has implemented a large supply of holiday costumes and other decorative pieces.
“We’ve got a ton of costume accessories,” Nicole Allred, a manager at Hirons Drug on East 18th Avenue, said. “We have lots of wigs, face paints, devil and angel kind of stuff, wings, animal ears, vampire fangs — mostly smaller inexpensive accessory pieces to put a whole look together.”
While the store carries some semi-larger costume pieces, such as togas and flapper dresses, Hirons does not put a large emphasis on selling full costumes. Instead, they prefer to offer these smaller accessory items to keep costume shopping inexpensive for customers.
“We try to keep most everything under $20,” Allred said. “We have a bunch of really cute costumes depending on how you want to go.”
Along with all the basics and essential accessories in the store, each year tends to provide new themes and collections; customers can draw inspiration from them to construct costume ideas and create fun themes. Hirons has a new selection of Star Wars costume accessories this year that they are excited to bring out as well as some formal attire for a more retro style.
“We have Yoda ears and some Princess Leia buns, and we’ve got a Boba Fett tutu in and a Chewbacca one as well,” Allred said. “Also I love that we’re going out of a depression, so it feels like the Roaring ‘20s is a really cute theme this year.”
Last year was an odd year for Hirons. The pandemic and restricted event gatherings resulted in the store not ordering any Halloween costumes and accessories, Allred said. With the season back in full swing this year, the store is thrilled to see the excitement and festive spirit of Halloween come back to their business once again.
“We’re going to be open all Halloween weekend. So, hopefully, people are going to come in and shop,” Allred said. “For the most part, we’ve got a huge selection, and I’m sure everyone’s going to be happy to find something that they can make work for a fun party on the weekend.”
Hirons on East 18th Avenue is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. The location on Franklin Boulevard is open from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and closed on weekends.
