How This Oakland Business Gives Mannequins New Life (Almost)

When you step inside the Mannequin Madness warehouse in Oakland, you’re greeted by a mind-boggling assortment of mannequins for rent or sale.

“They’re not always just mannequins with a head,” smiled founder Judi Henderson. “There’s legs, there’s feet, there’s butts. One of these boxes here is just full of heads.”

There’s even a life-sized mannequin of former President Barack Obama next to a plastic chest tied up in Shibari rope. A little something for every taste at Mannequin Madness.

“I’ve seen every cross-section of society coming through here,” Henderson said. “Every age group, every nationality, every sex and sexual orientation.” But Henderson said the biggest holidays for mannequin shopping are Halloween and Burning Man. “Burning Man is like my Christmas,” she said.

Blame it on Tina!

Henderson is a stylish 66-year-old Black entrepreneur who’s built a mannequin empire inside a warehouse near Oakland’s Jack London Square that once housed a historic cotton mill.

“I blame it all on Tina,” said Henderson, who was searching for Tina Turner concert tickets one night when she came across a listing for a mannequin for sale on Craigslist. Her impulsive buy would set the course for the rest of her life.

“[The seller] just casually told me that he ran the only mannequin rental business in town,” Henderson said, “and now that he was leaving the Bay Area, there wouldn’t be a place to rent a mannequin in the area anymore.”

Henderson pondered for a moment.

“I was already looking for a side hustle,” she said, “but most people don’t know a good opportunity when they see it.” Henderson figured this might be her long-awaited shot at becoming an entrepreneur.

“I was working at a dot-com in the early days of the internet,” said Henderson, who worked in sales.

“This was before ‘girl boss’ became part of the culture,” she said. So she had to sit back and watch while many of her white male colleagues saw their careers skyrocket.

“They weren’t any smarter than I was,” Henderson said, “but they were confident and resilient and had resources.”

Once she met the mannequin seller on Craigslist, Henderson realized she was staring at her opportunity. “So I bought all 50 of his mannequins,” Henderson said, “and I started Mannequin Madness Rental Company out of my house.”

Keeping mannequins out of the landfill

“I found out that department stores would throw mannequins in the trash,” Henderson said. She did some research and was alarmed to learn just how much waste was present in the mannequin business. If a store needed to update their mannequins as styles changed, they would just toss the old ones in the trash.

“Mannequins are made out of materials that don’t biodegrade. Things like fiberglass and styrofoam,” she said, gesturing toward a collection of different types of mannequins. ”I knew these didn’t belong in a landfill.”

So Henderson came up with a plan to help the environment and expand her business.

“I started making retailers an offer they couldn’t refuse,” Henderson said with pride. “I would recycle their mannequins for free, saving them on waste disposal fees.” Henderson would send a truck to pick up the old mannequins at no cost to the retailer.

“That gave me inventory, and I went from 50 to 500 mannequins within a six-month period of time,” she said, “which gave me enough to not just rent but to sell.”

Consumed by Mannequin Madness

In 2001, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., Henderson suddenly found herself unemployed. The dot-com folded, and suddenly, she found herself without an income and with a house full of mannequins.

“So I decided to make Mannequin Madness my full-time venture,” Henderson said. She began searching for a more suitable home for her inventory, landing on the 3,200-square-foot warehouse in Oakland (1031 Cotton Street) that’s now open to the public three days a week.

Visitors — many of them first-time mannequin buyers — come searching for mannequins for art projects or just to ogle at Henderson’s collection. She also offers mannequin art classes, like a workshop in making fantasy headdresses.

“Secondhand or used does not necessarily mean that it’s in disrepair or it’s in poor condition,” Henderson said. “I like to feel we’re giving a new youth for something old, kind of like myself.”