InCharacter Costumes was established in 2003 by Chuck Martinez and Bob Pickens, although the history goes much earlier then that. To fully grasp where this company came from we have to go a little deeper into the history of Chuck Martinez and Bob Pickens.

In 1978, Chuck Martinez began an association with Sears & Roebuck creating The Halloween Place at Sears. Chuck began with a single San Diego Sears store location that generated around $89,000 of retail costume sales during a 35-day selling period. In the year 1980 is where Bob Pickens comes into the picture, by working for Chuck Martinez managing a Halloween Shop located within the Buena Park Sears store. In 1983, Bob Pickens had become the merchandising manager for The Halloween Place at JCPenney, a competitive operation which was inspired by The Halloween Shop at Sears. By 1984, Chuck had built a national chain with over 360 locations at Sears that produced almost multi-million dollars of retail revenue during the month of October.

By 1985, after Chuck had sold his interest in The Halloween Shop at Sears, The Halloween Store at JCPenney merged with The Halloween Shop at Sears to become National Theme Productions. Bob then served as Director of Design and Development for NTP through 1987. Chuck then, sensing a new and greater opportunity in the masquerade business, joined forces with Bob Pickens and Jerome Berko (one of Chuck's former suppliers) and together they created Disguise, Inc.

From 1987 through 1998, Bob was the General Manager of Disguise, Inc. and ran all manufacturing and distribution activities. In addition, Bob was responsible for all creative, design and development functions. Disguise, Inc. was sold to new ownership in 1995 though Bob continued to work for the new ownership through 1998.

Fast forward to 2003 with the establishment of InCharacter Costumes, Chuck Martinez and Bob Pickens saw a growing trend in the market of bad service and poor quality. They noticed that the smaller, independent retailers seemed to be getting the brunt of this problem as they had been placed last in line behind the mass market giants.

With the dedication to providing unmatched customer service and quality to the specialty retailer, InCharacter Costumes specifically created their line with the sophisticated retail costume customer in mind. With their exquisite designs, superior fabrics, premium finishing and the best graphics in the industry, they still strive to keep their line at a price that allows retailers to offer customers remarkable value.