4 minute read
Blowing Up a New Balloon Business
Blowing Up a New Balloon Business
By Jan Mercker
It’s hard to be sad when you’re around balloons.
For Beth Maggar, balloons mean bringing joy.
She remembers her early days working at a party store in Manassas when a young customer opened her eyes to the every day magic a balloon can create.
“There was a little boy who had come in,” Maggar recalled, “and he tugged on his mom’s arm and said, ‘Mommy, it’s balloon world!’ The joy on his face just did something to me. It’s not only about handing out a bouquet of balloons to somebody. It’s the joy. It’s helping them celebrate a life event–whether it’s a wedding, a baby, a birthday, anniversary or even a celebration of life. It’s hard to be sad when you’re around balloons.”
She opened her new shop, Balloon Designs By Beth, in Middleburg in June and has been spreading balloon joy with decorative arches, sculptures and more ever since.
Maggar was a longtime balloon specialist at The Party Co., an independent party store in Manassas. But her world changed in 2013 when a helium shortage caused her to dig deep to find her own hidden talents.
“When I first started working at the Party Company, all we did was blow up balloons and hand out bouquets,” Maggar said. “Then the owner came to me and said, ‘If we don’t figure out how to do airfilled designs, we’re going to lose our balloon department.’ I said, ‘I don’t have that kind of creativity in me.’ But he saw something that I didn’t see.”
She began her journey learning to create the cool air-filled designs that have taken over the world of balloon decor. In 2014, she went to the World Balloon Convention in Denver and was blown away. For the last decade, she’s worked hard to teach herself the ins and outs of air-filled designs.
“It’s an artistic side I never knew I had,” Maggar said. “I never considered myself an artistic person because I didn’t try.”
Maggar had to pivot again in 2020 when her former boss told her The Party Co. would be closing. She considered taking over the reins and launching her own party store in Prince William County.
Then she found out the corporate juggernaut, Party City, would be moving into Manassas.
“I knew I couldn’t compete,” she said.
She shifted gears again and took another retail job while hanging onto her dream of opening her own shop. When Maggar moved to Warrenton earlier this year, her real estate agent encouraged her to look for a retail space.
“She was like, ‘Beth you’re so passionate about it. You need to do it.’”
Maggar found her current space at a former auto parts shop at 19 W. Federal St. in Middleburg and she knew it was a perfect fit. The space had been cleaned and brightened but still had the pegboard on the walls, ideal for hanging balloons and accessories.
“My eyes have always been on larger shopping plazas because that’s what I thought I needed,” she said. “I’d never even considered Middleburg, but I walked up to the front and I saw the little picket fence. When I walked in, I saw all the pegboard on the wall. I said this is what I need.”
In September, Maggar’s new shop featured an adorable balloon beer mug sculpture, complete with foam and a balloon pretzel in honor of local Oktoberfest celebrations.
Meanwhile, the helium shortage has subsided, but it remains expensive. Maggar does offer helium-filled balloons, but the airfilled design trend is here to stay.
“The first thing I’m asked is if I do arches,” Maggar said. “They’ve become so popular.”
The current trend is “organic” arches filled with various sizes of balloons to achieve a more rounded and less uniform look. She delivers arches to customers around the region, with partial assembly on site.
“I’m very passionate about it,” Maggar said “I love doing it… Right now I’m a one-woman show. I’m branching out on my own and I’m learning so much. It’s very exciting.”
Details: facebook.com/balloondesignsbybeth.
