In 1954, Mark R. Switz opened a craft and variety store in the North Plaza on Route 11 and South Bay Rd in North Syracuse, NY. In 1984, the store, called Switz's, moved across South Bay Road into what was to become the iconic castle-style building that the store would become famous for.
While open year-round, Switz's became best known for its Halloween season decorations and supplies. With a large assortment of Halloween costumes and decorations, as well as some of the best Halloween displays of any store in the Syracuse area. For many years, a "Count" would sit in an upright coffin passing out candy to children (and scaring them senseless). He was eventually replaced by the 14 foot tall, 1600 pound mechanical "Oscar".
Sadly, in the early 1990s, Switz's saw a sharp decline in business and moved to the Marketplace Mall in May of 1993. But, by July of 1993, Mark R. Switz's grandson, Bert Schmidt Jr, announced that Switz's was filing for bankruptcy and would soon be closing for good.