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Two years ago, Philip Gabriel began selling hospital worker costumes at Scrubs Unlimited, a medic

A business world mantra, repeated endlessly by CEOs, is “think outside the box.” Medical goods supplier Philip Gabriel is a testament to the sageness of this advice.

Gabriel, owner of medical uniforms and accessories store Scrubs Unlimited, discovered a lucrative and unexpected second market for his store, selling his goods as costumes.

Now his store, located on Weyburn Avenue, finds its business from medical students equalled by that of party-goers looking to become doctors for a night.

“Two Halloweens ago, people started coming in asking for doctor (and) nursing outfits. I ordered some extra stuff, and the last two weeks got a lot of extra business,” Gabriel said.

Sensing potential profits in catering to the Halloween crowd, Gabriel made costumes a permanent fixture of the store the following year.

“I went all out,” Gabriel said. “I started putting packages together, and word-of-mouth spread.”

Signs hanging in front of the store also publicized Scrubs Unlimited’s costumes. Gabriel remembers a particularly popular banner from last year that read: “Everything you need to be a doctor, except the debt.”

Halloween shoppers say the quality of the uniforms and accessories, coupled with competitive prices, led them to get their costumes at Scrubs Unlimited.

“The quality is really nice (and) I was surprised by how cheap they were,” said Vienna Lor, a second-year undeclared student, who was purchasing a nurse’s cloak.

Besides Halloween business, Gabriel has found consistent customers in fraternities and sororities, whose parties often have a medical theme.

Earlier this month, Sigma Chi’s “Dirty Doctors, Naughty Nurses” party drew many students to Scrubs Unlimited. Sigma Chi member and party-goer Andy Grock, a second-year philosophy and life sciences student, said he was impressed by the costumes at the Oct. 16 party, many of which were purchased from Scrubs Unlimited.

Costume sales at Scrubs Unlimited have enhanced the store’s overall profits. Gabriel estimates his store’s annual costume sales at over $45,000.

“Right now, half my business is in costumes,” Gabriel said.

Besides the extra profits, Gabriel enjoys the energetic customers the costumes have brought to the store.

“(The costumes) bring in a lot of different people who usually wouldn’t shop here,” Gabriel said. “They always come in a good mood.”

However, the store’s success as a costume vendor is only the latest episode in a saga that has taken Scrubs Unlimited from the brink of bankruptcy to prosperity.

Founded in December 1998, Scrubs Unlimited faced great difficulties in its first years of existence. Coping with high rent and many competitors, Gabriel initially struggled to make the store successful.

“It was a totally new business to him – he knew nothing about retail,” said Gabriel’s wife Lisa Chapman.

Scrubs Unlimited’s fortunes began to improve in March 2001, when it launched an online business and was added to UCLA’s official list of vendors.

Scrubs Unlimited also found an untapped market for more unusual medical accessories.

“I’m the first scrub store on the West Coast to sell red, yellow and orange scrubs,” Gabriel said. “And there’s a market for that – who would have thought.”

But Gabriel says the addition of the doctor and nurse costumes has been the most lucrative innovation for his business.

“October is like my Christmas,” Gabriel said, referring to the time of the year when stores often do a significant portion of their annual business.

Though the costumes have created a lot of additional customers for Scrubs Unlimited, Gabriel notes the risks inherent with the presence of so many authentic medical uniforms on Halloween.

“Be sure not to get sick on Halloween,” Gabriel joked. “There will be a lot of fake doctors in convincing costumes.”