Louis Wittenburg

I have never seen a store quite like this in Amsterdam before. Granted, I went in for very last minute Halloween costume shopping, but there was a huge line outside. That notwithstanding, the staff was eager to help customers find that right outfit for the party. They have 3 floors of goodness and you’re sure to find something. The props collection is quite cool as well.

As any respectable Halloween lover, I go nuts inside costume shops. Louis Wittenburg is THE store for that!
There are three floors packed from floor to ceiling with everything you could possibly need for a party, whatever the theme is (birthday, new year’s eve, christmas, etc). They’ve got balloons (regular and helium), masks, tiaras, glasses, costumes, wigs, professional theater make up, lenses, fake nails, gloves, tassels… seriously, EVERYTHING you can think about.
When Halloween is creeping closer the store gets in the mood and sell the most amazing selection of decorations and costumes, you’ve GOT to check it out even if you’re not buying anything. Unfortunately it’s forbidden to take pictures inside, but the store is so awesome that I totally understand the rule (can you imagine going in to buy something and being interrupted by hoards of people taking selfies? Terrible, right?).

One Saturday in May I organized a bachelor party for a friend of mine. One of the things we did that day was kart racing in Delft. To make a very long story short, I needed a mustache that looked like Super Mario’s mustache.
I was in a hurry and could only think of this place to check out. I wish I hadn’t. The service was the worst I’ve ever experienced anywhere in Amsterdam, nay, plain anywhere. There were two employees in the store talking about personal stuff. They didn’t greet me or anything, which is okay, because we Dutchies are rude like that most of the time. I couldn’t find the mustachio I was looking for, so I went to the employees to ask them If perhaps they sold any Super Mario mustachios. I stood next to them and it was obvious I wanted to ask them something. The guy who was talking looked at me, stopped his conversation for a nanosecond, looked back to his colleague and continued their conversation, ignoring me completely in the process. So I interrupted him asking him politely if, sir, maybe you have a Super Mario mustachio lying around somewhere that I can take of your hands. The guy was plainly annoyed and his simple answer was: «No.» Nothing more and again he continued his conversation. He could have at least pointed me to the mustachio section, come up with an alternative, but nothing!
I found the mustachio section in the back and picked a nice one. Back at the cash register I wanted to pay with my debit card. This wasn’t POSSIBLE, according to the girl behind the counter. This was due to the fact that the mustachio only costs € 3. There was a little sign that read paying by card wasn’t possible under € 5 and it would cost you an additional 50 cents to pay by card if the total amount was under € 10. That is so 1999!!! And it’s even not aloud anymore!
To sum up: worst service experience… EVER!