Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

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  • Blueballoondude89
    Senior Member
    • Apr 2022
    • 168

    Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

    I really miss the days of when Party City was barely a thing around here. There were TONS of places in my city back in the 80s to the mid to late 90s as I did newspaper research. That sold Qualatex in bags and bulk. And of course I was too damn little to drive myself or even beg my mom to take me there. I believe Party City began in 1985 but … I feel like Unique/latex occidental didn’t arrive on scene until around 1987/88 based on what I’ve seen. Did stores mostly sell Tuftex/Gayla/Pioneer back in the late 80s?

    Although there were a couple of stores that she would take me to. One was a toy store called The Kaleidoscope that sold Qualatex. Another was The Paper Cutter but I think that was just a Western NY chain and they went bankrupt in 1994. I also read in the old newspaper archives that there was one place and in 1989 they advertised a free balloon release if you won some sort of raffle. One store was right next to a liquor store and owned by the same people, but they sold Uniques. But I always begged my mom to take me there. The last store that existed around here was a place that did have bulk Qualatex and even Betallic but she used an inflator to get it to EXACTLY 11 inches no bigger, and not even Hi float. They closed in 2014. I would go there for bulk balloons. There was another store called Maines which recently went bankrupt but they only had the cheap Amscan balloons as well.

    Anyone else miss these?

    Why do none of these stores exist anymore and why is it only Unique/Amscan (and if you’re lucky, Pioneer) that’s widely available on shelves? Money and/or demand?
    Last edited by Blueballoondude89; 17-01-2023, 17:56.
  • Loonorm
    Senior Member
    • Mar 2019
    • 214

    #2
    Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

    OMG! How I miss those stores! There was a shop, just east of where I currently work. They were a reliable source for Unique 16” and 36” balloons! If I remember correctly, they were bags of 72 for the 16”, and 5 for the 36”. The women often wondered what I did with all of the balloons! There was another store in Decatur, Illinois. Again, a great source for Unique balloons. Every chance that I had, I would detour to the store and buy something! I had a friend who had a shop in Melrose Park, then, later, Addison. She had a great inventory of balloons. As I became a regular at her shop, she would ‘bulk order’ Unique and Qualatex balloons for me. When PC first opened, they too were a great place for Unique 16” and 36” balloons.

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    • RLMI
      Senior Member
      • Jul 2021
      • 107

      #3
      Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

      Yes, there was a small party store near me, this is going back almost 20 years. They would sell balloons on sticks, inflated with air, not helium, with various printed words, like Get Well Soon etc.

      I bought a Get Well Soon balloon once in a normal 12 inch, not sure what brand, and I asked for a dark burgundy one.

      They didn't have any ready to go, so the lady at the counter blew it up for me by mouth, which was very surprising. I remember she took deep but slow breaths, and blew it up till it actually had a bit of a neck.

      Comment

      • Seidenki
        Senior Member
        • Dec 2016
        • 203

        #4
        Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

        I've noticed independent balloon stores don't seem to last long around here. I can think of four just in my immediate piece of suburbia that have come and gone within a decade. Most don't last long. It's almost as though being a Qualatex retailer is just not a long-term business strategy. And until recently, I might add, it was always Qualatex balloons.

        That said, if they sell a lot of other stuff, like the dollar stores do, then balloons seem to work as a line for them. There is a major department store here (Big W) that added a proper balloon section a couple of years ago - and most of their balloons seem to be Amscan. There's also The Base who have a lot of Sempertex plus another brand I can't remember which seems to be one of the more consistent Chinese ones and a sprinkling of Unique. And there's Spotlight who have a mix of Qualatex (especially the loose balloons) and Amscan.

        Comment

        • yet_another_aussie
          Senior Member
          • Dec 2019
          • 104

          #5
          Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

          Originally posted by Seidenki
          I've noticed independent balloon stores don't seem to last long around here. I can think of four just in my immediate piece of suburbia that have come and gone within a decade. Most don't last long. It's almost as though being a Qualatex retailer is just not a long-term business strategy. And until recently, I might add, it was always Qualatex balloons.

          That said, if they sell a lot of other stuff, like the dollar stores do, then balloons seem to work as a line for them. There is a major department store here (Big W) that added a proper balloon section a couple of years ago - and most of their balloons seem to be Amscan. There's also The Base who have a lot of Sempertex plus another brand I can't remember which seems to be one of the more consistent Chinese ones and a sprinkling of Unique. And there's Spotlight who have a mix of Qualatex (especially the loose balloons) and Amscan.


          We have Big W and spotlight here in my part of regional VIC but surprisingly the balloon retailers that seem to be doing the best are non-chain stores.

          They charge mind boggling prices though.

          I think one carries loose qualatex and has some other mid range quality prints and the other has a different brand.

          Comment

          • Blueballoondude89
            Senior Member
            • Apr 2022
            • 168

            #6
            Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

            I should mention that our major supermarket chain Wegmans does Qualatex. They used to sell them in the little 8 count retail packs and the printed 5 pack as well but nooooooo, that stopped about 10 years ago. There were a lot of fun licensed Disney prints and big polka dots. I loved it when I could just pick up a pack of a color if I needed it or some Happy birthday confetti. Now I have to dig around online.

            Comment

            • Gunnapop
              Member
              • Oct 2020
              • 89

              #7
              Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

              I am quite sure that Party City had a significant impact on many popular balloons being dropped from production.

              I despise that store.

              ~gp

              Comment

              • LoonerPlanet
                Senior Member
                • Nov 2018
                • 144

                #8
                Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

                I agree with others about how great independent shops were. When I lived in Maryland, I used to regularly check out a party shop outside of Baltimore, which always had balloons ranging in size from 9" to 36". And they would inflate them fully! I also frequented a party shop outside of St Louis (which I think is still in business). OK balloon selection, but I could always count on them have helium tanks for rent. I would rent the tank on Friday and return it empty on Monday. Lots of memorable weekends.

                Some legendary independents are still around: Balloon Saloon in New York City, Red Balloon in Seattle, Balloon Lady in San Francisco. Did I mention that I do "balloon tourism"? LOL.

                On a side note, Party City just filed for bankruptcy protection. In the article I read, it said that balloon sales was an important source of revenue for them. The helium shortage and increases in costs had hurt them.

                Comment

                • Scooter
                  Senior Member
                  • May 2022
                  • 246

                  #9
                  Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

                  I've always dreamed of going into a store that sold balloons, but like it was a goodie-bag type of thing where you could pick size + color + brand and fill a bag and pay for that. Just walking through the aisles of balloon bins going "Ooh, look at that shade of purple!" and stuff. I'm really saddened this doesn't appear to actually be a thing, most requiring that the balloons be inflated in-shop, and from a very limited selection.

                  That said, the mall closest to me recently did get a balloon store in it, though it's more of a "contact them and they'll make displays" type of deal, so it doesn't serve me much purpose. Worth noting though.

                  Comment

                  • stretchedtight
                    Senior Member
                    • Apr 2013
                    • 166

                    #10
                    Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

                    yeah I loved the local party stores. There was a chain of stores near me that sold a lot of balloons and also decoration and carnival type items in big bins. They always had big inflated balloons and you could either by bags of 16-17" balloons or they would have bins with individual balloons. They went out of business about five years ago and one of the locations was sold/rebranded and operated very similarly, but it didn't last long. There was another store call Streamers which was in the mall of all places and they sold balloons and party stuff. I vividly recall walking by on or near valentines day and the would have hundreds of inflated balloons (latex and mylar) waiting for customers to pick up and you would hear the sound of the several helium stations just running constantly.
                    Found some images online of the place...


                    Last edited by stretchedtight; 20-01-2023, 00:36.

                    Comment

                    • LoonerPlanet
                      Senior Member
                      • Nov 2018
                      • 144

                      #11
                      Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

                      Here are 2 photos of the Balloon Saloon in New York City.
                      Attached Files

                      Comment

                      • Blueballoondude89
                        Senior Member
                        • Apr 2022
                        • 168

                        #12
                        Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

                        Originally posted by LoonerPlanet
                        Here are 2 photos of the Balloon Saloon in New York City.
                        YES! Balloon Saloon! In 2003 I discovered their website and all the amazing balloon bouquets pictured. Took me 12 years until I was finally able to actually get to that store.

                        When I got there I was bummed to see it wasn’t actually like “oooh look at all the QUALATEX packs on the retail wall!” And I didn’t even inflate the few individuals that I got. But I finally made it to that damn store.

                        Comment

                        • Blueballoondude89
                          Senior Member
                          • Apr 2022
                          • 168

                          #13
                          Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

                          Originally posted by LoonerPlanet
                          Here are 2 photos of the Balloon Saloon in New York City.
                          YES! Balloon Saloon! In 2003 I discovered their website and all the amazing balloon bouquets pictured. Took me 12 years until I was finally able to actually get to that store.

                          When I got there I was bummed to see it wasn’t actually like “oooh look at all the QUALATEX packs on the retail wall!” And I didn’t even inflate the few individuals that I got. But I finally made it to that damn store. Pretty sure there’s a party store in Brooklyn that sells bags of Tuftex and Qualatex and I tried ordering some Mylars off their website but … I have to own a business or something.

                          Comment

                          • frankfrank
                            Empathetic Harmonizer
                            • Feb 2018
                            • 262

                            #14
                            Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

                            Originally posted by Scooter
                            Just walking through the aisles of balloon bins going "Ooh, look at that shade of purple!" and stuff. I'm really saddened this doesn't appear to actually be a thing, most requiring that the balloons be inflated in-shop
                            Why would a store require the balloons to be inflated in the store? Doesn't seem like it would really benefit the store - unless they're charging extra to inflate them, something you could do yourself (if you're not using helium or a canister).
                            People who don't know the difference between BURRO and BURROW, can't tell their ass from a hole in the ground.


                            There's been a lot of thefts of helium-filled balloons recently. More so than in the past, so they're going up. I think inflation is to blame.

                            "Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking." - The Scarecrow, WIZARD OF OZ, 1939

                            Comment

                            • MylarLover
                              Mylar Balloon Lover
                              • Apr 2023
                              • 72

                              #15
                              Re: Old Party stores that weren’t huge chains, I miss them

                              I wish we had many Party Stores here in Denmark, when I grew up in the 90s and 00s Party stores barely existed at all here in Denmark and when I visited one of the very few ones that existed in Copenhagen they barely had anything when it comes to Mylar Balloons. now in the 2020s there's more party stores in Denmark but its nothing like Party stores in the USA. selection of balloons is small here, so I buy my Mylar balloons online.

                              Comment

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