Military-surplus stores experience a run on gas masks

Fear of war is breathing new life into the business of selling gas masks.

But Jack Schaloum of Federal Army & Navy Surplus, the oldest and one of the last military-surplus stores in the Seattle area, sees little reason to celebrate.

"We'd rather not sell the gas masks, but have peace in the streets," said Schaloum, co-owner of the store with his brother, Henry.

On a typical day, the store on First Avenue — which opened during World War I — might sell one of its $29.99 gas masks. But that figure has jumped to about 40 a day, sometimes to customers who are grabbing five at a time, Schaloum said.

It's not a case of panic buying, he said. But business hasn't been this brisk since the World Trade Organization (WTO) riots in Seattle in 1999 and the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Schaloum figures his store may have more than 150 gas masks still in stock, but he hasn't had time to check his inventory.

Most of the masks being sold across America were made for the Israeli and U.S. military during the Gulf War, and the supply is dwindling.

"I don't have any more," said Motti Slodowitz, owner of Los Angeles-based Campco, which supplies military-surplus stores across the nation. Many of the stores he supplies sold out of gas masks quickly on Tuesday, he said.

That was the case at the Surplus Too Army Navy store just south of downtown Seattle. One customer came in Tuesday and bought all of the store's 11 Israeli-made gas masks, said employee Stella Cayetano.

The store still has six European-made masks, which sell for $28, she said, but the strange-looking model isn't very popular.

"We have had some calls, but once they see it, they don't buy it," Cayetano said.

Gas masks — which can be unsightly and uncomfortable — are considered good at filtering out dust, common everyday fumes and asbestos fibers. They typically are bought by painters and construction workers rehabbing old houses, said Schaloum.

The gas masks, however, wouldn't do much good in the case of modern chemical warfare, Slodowitz said.

"They are ineffective," he said. "These gas masks wouldn't do anything. It's psychological."

Schaloum said he doesn't ask his customers why they are buying the masks. But many people in New York are getting them because of the smoky, gritty air that has hovered over the area since Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

"My phone has been ringing off the hook," said Frank Spizuoco, owner of Maine Military Supply, who said he quickly sold out his stock of nearly 100 gas masks this week, but said he managed to "buy all I could" Wednesday — several hundred more.

Spizuoco, who has two stores in central Maine, wouldn't say where he got his masks — ranging in price from $11 to $250 — other than to say "it takes special paperwork."

The higher-priced models are more comfortable, have better visibility and a hole for a drinking straw, he said.

Bill Kossen can be reached at 206-464-2331 or at bkossen@seattletimes.com.