UPDATE APRIL 16: A well-known costume shop is selling everything after making the painful decision to close.
"How do you think I feel? I don't feel good," said Glenda Scott, an employee of Williams Costume Company.
For more than sixty years strip performers and locals have been coming to Williams Costume on Third Street. These final few days on the job are hard for longtime employees, especially because they're watching priceless treasures like beads, gowns, and masks go for just dollars.
There are thousands of things for sale – simply taking stock of everything has been a weeks-long process.
Everything is going up for auction. The whole store will be online and last about two weeks.
The original owner passed away last year. She brought together passion and business savvy when she converted the old dance studio into a shop. That's what it takes to stay in business this long in Vegas.
"Every day was the best day ever and I never regretted any of it," said Scott.
Saying goodbye might be the hardest part of the job.
ORIGINAL STORY: Tuesday was the end of an era for the Williams Costume Co. in Las Vegas.
After more than 60 years, the store located on 3rd Street closed up shop -- possibly for good.
Glenda Scott stumbled upon the piece of downtown Las Vegas history 20 years ago. She needed a job and Williams Costume was hiring.
"And ever since then I've been working in heaven,” Scott said.
It's been a shopping paradise for Las Vegas performers since 1955.
Farasha is a performer and a regular customer.
“I love it,” she said. “The people are warm and so whimsical. You can find anything here!"
The original owner, Nancy Williams, of the famed Dice Girls dancing troupe, converted it from a dance studio to a costume shop. She died earlier this year. Since then business has declined and her family no longer wants the responsibility of operating it.
"It was devastating,” Farasha said. “I used to come in and Nancy would talk to me about my new projects, encourage my performing and ask me what I'm doing next."
"Some of my customers have been crying on my shoulders because they don’t want to see it go,” Scott said.
From rentals to beads and every blinged-out thing in between, it was on the shelf somewhere inside Williams Costume.
Sure, now you can order many things online.
"But to get everything in one store," Scott said with a sigh. “There will never be another store like this ever in Las Vegas."
For now the glamorous go-to spot is gone, but it will shine on in many spectacular memories.
Store employees said there is still a chance the store could reopen if the right buyer is found.
