Thomas Fallenstein, CEO/president of Costumes Galore, will receive the 2009 Distinguished Young Alumni Award Friday, April 24.
Fallenstein, of Mankato, is one of 12 alumni who have been named 2009 award winners. He will be honored at an April 24 dinner and ceremony hosted by the Minnesota State Mankato Alumni Association.
The Distinguished Young Alumni Award goes to graduates 35 years old or younger who have reached professional achievements early in their careers, and have positively impacted their communities.
Fallenstein, a 2004 computer information science graduate, was a sophomore at Minnesota State Mankato when he started an online costume business out of a one-room apartment. When he graduated in 2004, revenue from Costumes Galore barely covered expenses, but he persevered and, as Halloween approached, costume orders snowballed.
He, his parents and his older sisters worked around the clock to process orders from his parents’ home. In the first year sales increased 500 percent and continued to grow. Fallenstein moved the company into a 9,000-square-foot facility, and, in 2008, into a 50,000-square-foot facility with a staff of 35 and 250 seasonal employees.
In 2007 Fallenstein won Connect Business Magazine’s Business Person of the Year runner-up award.
Fallenstein is active in junior achievement in local high schools, and supported the creation of Fallenstein Field, in honor of his late uncle, Albert Fallenstein.
Those who want more information about the Minnesota State Mankato awards may go to www.mnsu.edu/alumni/daa/.
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