Adjusting to the Times How Party Stores Are Operating in a Changing Party Environment

By Sara Karnish

Celebrations may be smaller in scope right now, but the atmosphere is no less festive, according to balloon and party supply retailers. “People are doing smaller home parties but decorating them more and making them more special,” said Melody Yesberg , owner of Celebrations Unlimited in Festus, Mo. “We’ve had to pivot. We used to do a lot of church functions, but that’s been put on hold. We’ve had to find a new niche. People’s budgets are higher than what a typical home party would be. They want to make the [event] special.”

Gary Krekelberg , owner of Party Land in Sioux Falls, S.D., said his business did not shut down completely as many others did throughout most of 2020. “We remained open all the time. There were only a few months where business was really bad, and that was during graduation season. It seems like this last graduation season, people made up for it. We never shut down—people were just more cautious.” Krekelberg pointed out certain categories did better than others. “This past year was probably our strongest year, and we’ve been open for 20 years. I think the trend is [the party business] will continue to get stronger. A lot of that is in balloons. I’m not sure why. Some of the trends in balloons are anagrams, orbs, and bubble balloons. The balloon business is strong and will continue to get stronger. The issue we’re having is getting product in stock. We have about six colors that are very popular, and we can’t get them. People are understanding and will pick another color,” he said. Krekelberg is doing huge business with the large mylar number balloons for birthdays and anniversaries. “If it wasn’t for those, we probably wouldn’t be able to stay in business,” he said. “They got very big because of Pinterest. Those number balloons are something like $12.50 apiece. My biggest tip for selling more balloons is to advertise that you do them. Display them as much as you can. The top of my 6-foot counter is full of photos of our balloon work. We sell a lot from the photos. I also think we do the best balloons in town. That’s just a fact—I’m not bragging. And word of mouth after 20 years in business hasn’t hurt us any.”

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