The costume company that designs and manufactures its own creations - and ships Halloween, all year long, from a small town in southern Minnesota.
FUN.com sells costumes. That plain sentence undersells what the North Mankato company has built. It is the parent brand behind HalloweenCostumes.com, described across the industry as the largest online-only Halloween costume retailer in the world, and it runs a broader year-round store stocked with pop-culture merchandise, collectible figures, toys, party supplies, apparel and seasonal home decor.
The story starts with a sewing machine. In 1992, Jenice Fallenstein was hand-making costumes for her children each Halloween. The family turned that into a small rental shop - roughly 20 costumes to start - so their Minnesota town could wear her designs. Her son, Tom Fallenstein, brought the business online in 2001, acquired HalloweenCostumes.com in 2008, and grew it into a nine-figure operation. Reports put the company's sales at roughly $100 million and up, with annual revenue estimated in the $100M-$116M range.
The audience is broad and unapologetically enthusiastic: parents outfitting trick-or-treaters, cosplayers chasing screen accuracy, party and event hosts, and collectors hunting Funko Pops, action figures and franchise merchandise. Customers span the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, Mexico and the EU.
The catalog is built to include people the costume aisle often forgets - sizing runs from infant to elder and across body types, and there is a dedicated range for pets.
Costume shopping is seasonal, chaotic and famously hit-or-miss. Sizes sell out, licensed characters are hard to find, and quality is a gamble. FUN.com answers that by owning the product: it designs, licenses and manufactures thousands of its own exclusive costumes - so the thing you want is in stock, on-model, and available in your size.
By keeping design in-house, the company can add newness constantly. Roughly 1,300 costumes were added in a single recent year.
Most costume sellers are resellers - they stock what factories ship them. FUN.com is vertically integrated on its exclusive line. It designs and manufactures its own officially licensed costumes and animatronics, sells them under a "Made by Us" banner, and never has to compete on the identical product carried by everyone else.
That control shows up as selection, fit and freshness - the practical reasons a shopper comes back.
Direct-to-consumer e-commerce. FUN.com sells online through FUN.com and HalloweenCostumes.com, blending in-house exclusives with third-party brands. Owning the exclusive product improves margins versus pure resale.
The business is seasonal by nature, peaking sharply at Halloween, which is why the company staffs up roughly tenfold each fall and increasingly pushes into year-round holidays and decor to smooth demand.
The flagship: the world's largest online-only Halloween costume store, with 13,000+ styles plus matching accessories and decor.
Acquired 2008Officially licensed, in-house designed costumes and 3,500+ exclusive items you can't buy anywhere else.
ExclusiveIn-house designed animatronics, including 75+ new pieces for 2025 and budget-friendly "Scream Savers."
2025 seasonFunko Pop figures, action figures, plush, apparel and franchise merchandise across the FUN.com store.
Year-roundSizing from infant to elder for all body types - plus a dedicated line of costumes for pets.
All agesParty supplies, themed gifts and seasonal home decor that extend the business beyond October.
Multi-holidayThe costume market is split between seasonal pop-up chains, big-box party retailers and the open shelves of marketplaces. FUN.com stakes out a distinct corner: online-only, year-round, and integrated on product. Where Spirit Halloween leans on temporary storefronts and Party City on physical retail, FUN.com concentrates on catalog depth and exclusive design shipped from a central operation.
Its expertise is narrow and deep - three decades spent getting very good at one category. Competitors include Spirit Halloween, Party City, Rubie's, Amazon and pop-culture retailers such as BoxLunch and Hot Topic, but few match its combination of in-house design and online scale.
The Fallenstein family turns Jenice's handmade costumes into a small rental shop in Mankato, starting with about 20 costumes.
Tom Fallenstein brings the costume business onto the web - an early bet on e-commerce that clicks immediately.
Fallenstein acquires the domain that grows into the largest online-only costume retailer in the world.
The company broadens beyond Halloween into a year-round pop-culture, collectibles and gifts marketplace.
Reported to have grown from the family garage to roughly $100 million in annual sales.
Announces 75+ new in-house animatronics for the season, deepening its exclusive-product strategy.
FUN.com is a North Mankato, Minnesota-based online retailer of costumes, pop-culture merchandise, collectibles, toys, party supplies and seasonal decor, and the parent brand of HalloweenCostumes.com.
Yes. FUN.com is the parent brand; HalloweenCostumes.com is its flagship - the world's largest online-only Halloween costume retailer.
It grew from costumes hand-made by Jenice Fallenstein. Her son Tom Fallenstein brought the business online in 2001 and is co-founder and CEO.
Yes. The company designs and manufactures thousands of its own exclusive, officially licensed costumes and animatronics in-house, alongside 3,500+ exclusive items.
Its headquarters is at 2080 Lookout Drive, North Mankato, Minnesota, and it ships to customers worldwide.