Boksburg’s costume queen bids her creations farewell

It is the end of an era after the popular Cora’s Costumes, situated in Charl Cilliers Street in Boksburg North, recently closed its doors after almost four decades.

The owner, Cora Simpson (80), explained that she decided about two weeks ago that it was now time to hand over the reins to the younger generation and sell the some 20 000 costumes the business has built up over the years.

“It was barely two days later when two young teachers paid a deposit to purchase all the costumes for a costume business they were starting.

“I’m really grateful that I managed to sell the items to these lovely ladies. All that’s left now are moulds for the mascots. I’m sad about closing the business because it was my life,” Cora said.

Cora’s Costumes was established in 1982 with little capital but lots of enthusiasm and hard work. Cora saw a gap in the market for a business that would design, manufacture, sell and rent out character and fancy dress costumes.

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“I didn’t have money or experience at that point, but no one was going to tell me I couldn’t do it. I worked around the clock until late at night on an old sewing machine. I would even make costumes out of material I had at home, like curtains, with the assistance of my husband, Michael, who died last year.

“I visited the library to do research when I didn’t know how to do something. It was a case of believing in myself and praying. The first mascot I made was Daantjie Kat.”

The business grew rapidly as the costumes became popular and at one point Cora’s Costumes had eight branches. Cora decided to close the branches when it became no longer worthwhile to keep them open.

A highlight in Cora’s career was the Zakumi mascots for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

She explained that the best thing for her about making costumes is seeing how happy children walk out when they can dress up as their favourite character.

Awards Cora has won numerous awards during her fruitful career as businesswoman.

Among other things, she was a finalist in 1987 and 1990 for the Johannesburg African Businesswomen Entrepreneur of the Year. In 1996, she was named the Entrepreneur of the Year for the Eastern Gauteng region by the Transitional Local Council.

In 2001, Cora was a finalist in the Lebone/SABC 2 women entrepreneur programme and received the South African woman role model award.

In 2002, Cora was nominated for the Shoprite Checkers/ SABC 3 Woman of the Year and took second place in the women entrepreneur category. She was also one of the first recipients of the first Proudly South African Homegrown Awards in 2004 in the SME winners category, ‘Bridging the Divide’.

The businesswoman has also been involved in helping the less fortunate where she can.

Cora has been determined to develop people, and her commitment was often recognised. She assisted in collecting necessities, such as food parcels and clothing for the needy, and helped organise fund-raising events.

Furthermore, Cora fed between 30 and 50 people through Cora’s Costumes’ feeding scheme and ran projects in informal settlements where she provided off-cut material and taught women how to sew.

Even though the shop is closed, Cora still makes costumes by order and still owns the buildings where Cora’s Costumes used to be.

The costume queen’s parting advice to entrepreneurs is: “You must not give up. Say to yourself every day ‘I am successful’.”

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