JOKER’S WILD owner Wilma Serafini is selling all her merchandise at deep discounts as she prepares to close her store at 204 Main St. Everything, from Santa Claus suits to wigs, is on sale through Christmas Eve. (Gail Lowe Photo)

 


Deep discounts offered through Christmas Eve

By GAIL LOWE

 

NORTH READING — The countdown has begun!

Wilma Serafini, owner of Joker’s Wild, a fixture on Main Street for the past 46 years, is retiring. The store she has owned and managed all these years will close on Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24.

The building on Rte. 28 has been purchased by an Andover man, but Serafini said she does not know his proposed use for the site.

“Longtime customers have been stopping in to see if it’s true we’re closing,” said Serafini. “We are. As of January 4, I’ll be out of here and in Ocala, Florida.”

In the meanwhile, Serafini is offering a blow-out sale – 50 percent off all of the store’s merchandise. During her final week, she will reduce prices by 75 percent.

On sale are Santa Claus suits, hats and beards; Halloween costumes, accessories, costume jewelry, wigs, masks, theater props, gag gifts, feather boas and even drag queen attire. Some items will be moved to the Danvers location of Joker’s Wild on Rte. 114, where Serafini is part owner. It is managed by her second cousin, Tracy O’Brien.

Throughout the decades Serafini has also catered to people involved in anime, Cosplay, Renaissance and Larpers (Live Action Role Playing). Merchandise related to these groups will also be greatly discounted.

Ocala is where Serafini grew up and graduated from high school and is also where her 87-year-old mother Sue still lives. “I am going there to live with my mother and take care of her,” she noted. “I’ll probably take her to the beach and maybe take her on a cruise,” she said.

In conversation with Serafini on a recent Saturday, she told a story about being a distant cousin of the McCoys of the Hatfields and McCoys. Both of her grandparents had worked in coal mining in Kentucky, and both died from black lung. Meanwhile, Serafini’s father moved to Florida to work in agriculture.

In her youth, Serafini picked peanuts and okra and sold watermelon on the side of the road.

Eventually, she moved to Massachusetts and married her husband Frank Serafini.

Joker’s Wild was originally called Jim’s Jokes & Hobby, but the owner, Jim Ciaravella, became ill and died in 1977. Around the same time, Wilma’s husband was building a model train and buying pieces he needed from Jim’s store. When his shop was being sold, the Serafinis bought it and renamed it Joker’s Wild.

Serafini said she has a background in art but had no formal business training. “I was self-taught,” she said. After her husband died when she was only 47 years old she continued running the business. She currently has two people on her payroll, whom she will miss.

“Yes, I will miss my employees and friends, not to mention the camaraderie of my customers,” she said, adding that her job has been fun and satisfying because she gets to wear so many different hats and meet so many interesting people.

But now, coming up in her leisure will be horseback riding, scuba diving and travel. She’s been all over the world, including Hong Kong and many parts of Europe.

“Moving to Florida will be a chance to reinvent myself,” she commented.

Store hours are Monday–Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays noon to 5 p.m.

Visit thejokerswild.com or call 978-664-5401 for more information.