Reinke Brothers is a seasonal haunted house and year-round Halloween and costume shop in Littleton. (Courtesy Reinke Brothers)
A downtown Littleton haunted house and costume shop filed for bankruptcy six days before Halloween, but co-owner Greg Reinke said he isn’t spooked.
Reinke Brothers, a seasonal haunted house and year-round Halloween and costume shop, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 25.
According to the bankruptcy filings, the business owes $326,128 to nine creditors. The company listed assets of $13,675. Chapter 11 allows a business to restructure and keep operating while paying creditors over time.
Reinke, who owns the business at 5663 S. Prince St. with his brother Chris, said the business is still recovering from the pandemic, which “destroyed” the costume and haunted house industry. In filings, Reinke Bros. listed its 2022 revenue as -$123,206, which the company’s lawyer confirmed was correct.
“It’s going to take some time with numbers to get where we were before COVID,” Reinke said. “We’re going to have some bumps and bruises, go through some fire … but I learned just be honest, be up front and karma will take care of you.”
Reinke said the business won’t be in bankruptcy for long.
The Reinke Bros. shop is in downtown Littleton. (Google Street View)
“This gives us time to be able to make good decisions and not reckless decisions,” Reinke said. “I’m like a cockroach – and I’ve got the costume. I will still be in your basement.”
In filings, Reinke Bros. listed its largest creditor as Statewide Roofing Consultants LLC, with a claim of $234,207. The company has been in ongoing litigation with Statewide since 2017.
According to court documents, Reinke Bros. hired Statewide in 2015 after the business’ roof was damaged by a hail storm the year prior. Reinke Bros. claims that the subtractor Statewide hired did shoddy work, including failing to tell the business the entire roof needed to be replaced, and caused more damage. Statewide denied most claims, but offered a settlement of $125,000, records show.
Reinke Bros. declined and took the case to trial. In 2021, the jury ruled in favor of Statewide and ordered Reinke to pay the roofing company $40,658. Reinke appealed that decision shortly after; the case has been paused because of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Greg and Chris Reinke have been in the haunting business nearly their entire lives. They built their first haunted house when Greg was 12 years old in 1968 in their parents’ basement. When Greg was 16, they said, they made $10,000 putting on a five-day haunted house for the University of Colorado Boulder.
Reinke added retail to that basement haunted house after a trip to Disney World with his family, where he noticed the attractions were paired with souvenir shops.
“We have a haunted house and we run lots of people through it, and what do they do when they get done? They end up in our store,” Reinke said.
The brothers moved their business around for years before opening in its current space in 2000, the same year downtown Littleton got light rail service.
Reinke said he signed a lease-to-purchase agreement with the building’s former owner, and who now is a good friend. He owns the building under the entity Reinke Brothers Playhouse LLC. The business is legally known as Reinke Bros. Inc.
The brothers said there isn’t much competition in the Halloween space these days, other than pop-up shops like Spirit Halloween that are open only for a few months of the year.
On the haunted house side, he said Reinke Bros. focuses on families, rather than just scaring teenagers. The haunted house runs a children’s tour where they “send the monsters to lunch” and turn on the lights to give kids a behind-the-scenes look.
“I learned a long time ago that if I just scare the dickens out of a child, they don’t become a client,” Reinke said. “But if I show them how it’s done, the reality and fantasy, I’ve got five generations of family coming.”
Attorney Brittany Reinke of Miller & Law, Greg Reinke’s daughter, is representing the company in its bankruptcy proceedings.
Reinke Brothers is a seasonal haunted house and year-round Halloween and costume shop in Littleton. (Courtesy Reinke Brothers)
A downtown Littleton haunted house and costume shop filed for bankruptcy six days before Halloween, but co-owner Greg Reinke said he isn’t spooked.
Reinke Brothers, a seasonal haunted house and year-round Halloween and costume shop, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 25.
According to the bankruptcy filings, the business owes $326,128 to nine creditors. The company listed assets of $13,675. Chapter 11 allows a business to restructure and keep operating while paying creditors over time.
Reinke, who owns the business at 5663 S. Prince St. with his brother Chris, said the business is still recovering from the pandemic, which “destroyed” the costume and haunted house industry. In filings, Reinke Bros. listed its 2022 revenue as -$123,206, which the company’s lawyer confirmed was correct.
“It’s going to take some time with numbers to get where we were before COVID,” Reinke said. “We’re going to have some bumps and bruises, go through some fire … but I learned just be honest, be up front and karma will take care of you.”
Reinke said the business won’t be in bankruptcy for long.
The Reinke Bros. shop is in downtown Littleton. (Google Street View)
“This gives us time to be able to make good decisions and not reckless decisions,” Reinke said. “I’m like a cockroach – and I’ve got the costume. I will still be in your basement.”
In filings, Reinke Bros. listed its largest creditor as Statewide Roofing Consultants LLC, with a claim of $234,207. The company has been in ongoing litigation with Statewide since 2017.
According to court documents, Reinke Bros. hired Statewide in 2015 after the business’ roof was damaged by a hail storm the year prior. Reinke Bros. claims that the subtractor Statewide hired did shoddy work, including failing to tell the business the entire roof needed to be replaced, and caused more damage. Statewide denied most claims, but offered a settlement of $125,000, records show.
Reinke Bros. declined and took the case to trial. In 2021, the jury ruled in favor of Statewide and ordered Reinke to pay the roofing company $40,658. Reinke appealed that decision shortly after; the case has been paused because of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Greg and Chris Reinke have been in the haunting business nearly their entire lives. They built their first haunted house when Greg was 12 years old in 1968 in their parents’ basement. When Greg was 16, they said, they made $10,000 putting on a five-day haunted house for the University of Colorado Boulder.
Reinke added retail to that basement haunted house after a trip to Disney World with his family, where he noticed the attractions were paired with souvenir shops.
“We have a haunted house and we run lots of people through it, and what do they do when they get done? They end up in our store,” Reinke said.
The brothers moved their business around for years before opening in its current space in 2000, the same year downtown Littleton got light rail service.
Reinke said he signed a lease-to-purchase agreement with the building’s former owner, and who now is a good friend. He owns the building under the entity Reinke Brothers Playhouse LLC. The business is legally known as Reinke Bros. Inc.
The brothers said there isn’t much competition in the Halloween space these days, other than pop-up shops like Spirit Halloween that are open only for a few months of the year.
On the haunted house side, he said Reinke Bros. focuses on families, rather than just scaring teenagers. The haunted house runs a children’s tour where they “send the monsters to lunch” and turn on the lights to give kids a behind-the-scenes look.
“I learned a long time ago that if I just scare the dickens out of a child, they don’t become a client,” Reinke said. “But if I show them how it’s done, the reality and fantasy, I’ve got five generations of family coming.”
Attorney Brittany Reinke of Miller & Law, Greg Reinke’s daughter, is representing the company in its bankruptcy proceedings.
