With reports of clown sightings in Gainesville over the past two weeks, a local costume-store owner expects a surge in clown-related sales at his three stores across the city.
Michael Brooks, the district manager for the A Simply Unforgetable Party Shop chain, said he hasn’t seen an increase in sales just yet, but that most people buy their costumes once Halloween comes nearer.
And although the “creepy clown” craze, which began about two months ago in South Carolina and popped up in Gainesville Sept. 27, should draw more students to his store, Brooks has distanced himself from the sightings.
“Young people in town can take things a little too far sometimes,” he said. “We don’t like adding or taking advantage of anything like that.”
After reports of clowns roaming Gainesville on Tuesday, a group of about 30 students wielding golf clubs and baseball bats formed a clown-hunting mob to find them, WUFT reported.
On Tuesday, Gainesville Police increased its patrol at in the 700 block of SW Depot Ave. following a complaint first reported on Twitter, said GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias. There was also a suspicious-activity call on Southwest 12th Street, near Sorority Row, after someone saw girls running around and screaming, he said.
In all three cases, the alleged lurkers got away.
"I hope that folks will stop with the pranks before someone gets hurt,” Tobias said in a statement released Wednesday. “Police are aware and are investigating any incidents as they come in, but none of our officers have witnessed the activity themselves.”
With tensions high, Brooks has decided to curb a time-honored tradition: dressing up like a clown and walking down West University Avenue to promote his seasonal store, Simply Halloween Store.
He and his employees will be wearing the costume — modeled after the clown in “Killer Klowns from Outer Space,” but he won’t wear it as often, and he definitely won’t wear it at night, he said.
“It’s more of a concern that we’ll be safe in it,” Brooks said.
Despite the possibility that a prospective “creepy clown” might buy their costume at his shop, Brooks said there was nothing he could do to stop that.
“We can’t not sell to people because of what's going on,” he said.
Because Simply Unforgetable buys their costume selection a year in advance, Brooks said he didn’t prepare for this craze. Their clown costume selection includes a $2 mask, which he expects many students to buy, and a variety of more expensive, higher-quality masks, which go for about $45.
Andrés Esteller, a 21-year-old UF industrial and systems engineering junior, said Halloween in Gainesville may see throngs of clown-costume-clad students. But he said he hopes clowns know their boundaries and refrain from getting themselves hurt.
“I just hope everyone stays safe,” he said.
Staff Writer Jasmine Osmond contributed to this report.
