Fantasy Costumes Hdq.

The "Headquarters" in the name of this costume and wig emporium is well-deserved. A full city block long, this shop stocks "a million items," according to owner George Garcia, including "the largest wig, mask and makeup selection in the city."

It provides wigs and costumes for commercials (including Dennis Rodman's wigs for his McDonald's commercials), businesses, theaters and regular folks who want to create a memorable Halloween or other holiday celebration. Garcia proudly points out that Diana Ross visited the store one day, spent about three hours, and bought about $1,000 worth of wigs. It's no surprise when Garcia says that around Halloween, the store is "a zoo. There's wall-to-wall people."

While it's tough to find a store that can boast stocking as many costumes (50,000 when it's slow, 100,000 around Halloween) as this place, the really astounding fact is it carries more than 300 different types of costumes noses. In business for almost 40 years, Garcia said that since 1986 "we've knocked down a few walls" to accommodate the 1,000 costumes they've been adding every year. "People don't tell us everything they do (with the costumes) but they do a lot of crazy stuff. People just love this store."

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Portage Park stores, Chicago stores