AUBURN – Jennifer Garrigan was appalled when someone showed up at a dance last year in a $22 costume bought at a department store.

It was a basic doctor’s gown with crude instruments painted on the pocket. The dance was for people with special needs, and none of them had big bucks to spend on an outfit. Least of all, a cheesy one like the doctor’s get-up.

“These guys get $40 a month to spend, and they spent $22 on that? I was wild,” Garrigan said. “It’s a rip-off.”

So Garrigan, who works for Lutheran Social Services, decided she should help some of the people she works with open their own costume shop. On Oct. 14, the A&B Costume Shop opened its doors. Garrigan and her colleagues got creative by using what they had, rather than relying on a big budget.

“This shop opened on less than a hundred-dollar bill,” Garrigan said. “Every rental here is five bucks. There’s a need out there, and we’re filling it.”

The “A” in the store’s name stands for Amy Young. The “B” represents Betsy Bricker. Each is 24 years old.

“We’ve put together a lot of costumes,” said Young. “We’re trying to come up with more and more ideas. We have so many ideas.”

Vampires and judges

Ideas, indeed. When A&B hosted its grand opening, the variety of costumes and props in the collection was impressive: Halloween staples such as vampires and ghosts, but also judges’ robes and genuine firefighter uniforms, and attire for hippies and angels.

“By Oct. 31, I’d like to see a hundred costumes in here,” Garrigan said. By Oct. 14, they were up to about 60.

Garrigan sees costumes in the most basic household items. And she’s great with a glue gun. A soup can becomes a judge’s gavel. A pair of tights become a jester’s cap.

She and her colleagues took spray foam, sweat pants, tubes, fabric, ponchos – and presto! – a dinosaur outfit that takes two people to fill.

“See?” Garrigan said. “We don’t need Wal-Mart.”

The shop at 155 Center St., which will operate through the end of October, has some specialty costumes for people in wheelchairs. One is a helmet and racing garb to turn the wheelchair into a race car. Another is a stick pony and accesories for a cowboy costume.

Back in the limelight

At Thursday’s grand opening, Young, Bricker and their helpers were ready with pumpkins and carving kits to give away to visitors. As they walked into the store, shoppers were greeted by a mysterious mannequin on a gurney. The dummy was covered with a sheet. A toe tag dangled from her foot.

“I don’t know how she died,” Garrigan said. “I’m going to guess asphyxiation. She’s got a couple fingers missing, too.”

The shop will be open through Nov. 1. The hours are 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays. Costumes rent for $5, plus a $5 deposit.

Garrigan plans to see that the costume shop is up and running, then Young and Bricker will be in charge. The two women said several of their friends from the Life Center, a work program for people with developmental disabilities, have been helping them.

And being thrust into the spotlight at the grand opening was nothing new to Young. A short time ago, she was the center of attention at the Special Olympics.

“Here I am,” she said from the center of her costume shop. “Famous again.”