The locally owned and operated year-round business, Taylor Maid, has a salon, costumes, makeup, wigs, masks and hair products and offers so much more than a Halloween store, according to the owner, Rick Taylor.
The store opened in a Utah mall in 1975 and eventually found its home on Center Street in the early 80s, where it has operated ever since. Taylor Maid is one of the oldest original businesses on Provo’s historic Center Street.
BYU graduate Megan Smith started working at Taylor Maid two years ago as a makeup artist and is now the store manager.
She started working in the store’s salon in 2021 during the Halloween season, a time when they get a lot of their regular makeup and costume clients.
According to Smith, Taylor Maid has about 2,600 costumes available for rent, in addition to the costume pieces for purchase. Some of the high quality rentals are 30 years old, while others are more recent donations.
The store carries an extensive collection of beauty supplies, stage and special effects makeup, hair products and more. There are five makeup artists available to style hair and do clients’ makeup, according to Taylor.
“If we don’t have it you don’t need it … it’s a one stop shop,” Smith said.
She said that in addition to individual clients, the store serves the local theatrical industry. She said they serve places like the Hale Center Theatre, community theaters and high school and middle school theater departments within the community.
“We carry some of the best product … in the state of Utah,” Smith said.
Taylor said that while lots of people are looking for costumes during Halloween, the store is kept busy year-round. He said they provide products for university performance groups, including BYU’s ballroom team.
“We do stage plays … we do dance teams … we carry all the really good stuff that you can’t get in the Halloween Store,” Taylor said.
For the professional quality of the products and costume pieces, Taylor Maid’s prices can’t be beat, he said.
Taylor and his wife, Paula Taylor, have nine children. Paula Taylor said that all of the children, at some point in their lives, have been involved at the store.
Paula Taylor’s favorite part of Taylor Maid is its uniqueness, and there’s nowhere else you can get the “weirdness” they supply, she said.
