Big Dawg Party Rental: A family business that defies conventional wisdom by Mary Staub
C
onventional wisdom often has it that mixing family and business is a route to ruin. Conventional wisdom also often says that if you are going to start your own business, you might want to enter a field within your expertise. But, conventional wisdom is just that - conventional. And those who fly in the face of convention reap unexpected rewards.
24-hour period,” said Giordano. “One of the biggest events in the country. And then we had to go to set up at the Intrepid within 36 hours. We got very little sleep. I looked at my partner and said, you know, I think we’ve made it.”
Or thus has been the case with Big Dawg Party Rentals, a local, family-owned and operated party equipment rental business. In less than three years, the business has gone from idea to go-to source for party equipment in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Manhattan and beyond.
engagement party Giordano
Co-owned by a team of two, fatherand-son-in-law Michael Giordano and Brendan Quinlan, Big Dawg has gone from cold, empty warehouse on Bowne Street in 2013 to 6,000 squarefeet of equipment the first year in operation, to 15,000 square-feet of equipment today. (And they are ready for more.) Big Dawg has gone from being a complete newcomer to being the exclusive vendor for numerous local business and working the recent Democratic Presidential Debate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. “All told, about 2,000 chairs, 250 tables, we set it all up and took it down in a
"The seed for a party rental business was planted at the and his wife organized for Quinlan and their daughter, Justine." How did they get from there to here, then to now? It all began with Wall Street, an engagement party, and a misplaced delivery. Around 2008, Giordano, who had been working on Wall Street for three decades and ran two corporate brokerage firms, decided he didn’t like the direction Wall Street was taking. So he took stock of where he was and where he was headed. He started playing with the idea of opening his own business.
Brendan Quinlan outside of Big Dawg, which is presently leases space in shed 11 at the Cruise Terminal. (photo by George Fiala
“I started kicking around a few different businesses,” Giordano said. “And Brendan, my then future sonin-law, was good with technology. So we analyzed four or five different businesses.”
All about service
The seed for a party rental business was planted at the engagement party Giordano and his wife organized for Quinlan and their daughter, Justine. “We threw an engagement party,” said Giordano. “And the company we rented equipment from left it on the wrong floor. So we had to schlep all this equipment up to the right floor. They didn’t seem so big on customer service.” Fast forward to today, and Big Dawg Party Rentals’ mission and driving force is just that - customer service. Giordano and Quinlan crunched some numbers and decided to dive in. “I knew we needed to attack the customer service angle,” said Giordano. “Whether people are in the office or in the field, there’s one rule: customers set the rules, so work hard and be nice. At the time, we didn’t know anything about party rental. We just knew that customer service was lacking.” Since then the Big Dawg family of two has expanded to a family of 23, many of whom come from outside the party business. A former lawyer, real estate broker, and interior designer are among the mix. These disparate influences from outside the party business have helped make Big Dawg into what it is today, says Giordano. “The interesting thing about this story is there’s a mixture of five or six people in the administrative part of the industry. Because of that we’re not restrained by the typical things. It creates an interesting dynamic.”
patience to talk someone through the process? Do we listen carefully? This is in our DNA.” It’s this DNA that flows through Big Dawg’s veins and makes the 23 current employees into a family. When new hires come on board, Giordano might say, “we’re gonna be family here, and we’re gonna build a business. They look at it and realize it’s something special.” “I did think initially, ‘Oh my goodness, this could be challenging,’” Catherine said of sharing an office with her husband. “But Michael never really questioned it. He said immediately, ‘I think it’s a great thing. Who am I gonna trust more?’” Another binding force is the fact that more than a quarter of the team are blood relatives. Her daughter Justine works in the office, and her son, James, wears many hats, mostly in construction. Michael’s son Patrick will join the team full-time after completing a degree in food studies. So what of conventional wisdom? Big Dawg’s work is reaching beyond Red Hook and Brooklyn more and more. But their initial focus was on serving the Red Hook community, with a commitment to local businesses and venues. “We concentrated very hard on Red Hook itself,” said Giordano. “It’s an interesting place. It’s done well for us. Brooklyn is a slice of the country. Everyone lives together in a very compatible place.” Or, in the words of Catherine, who grew up in Dyker Heights, “Brooklyn is hot.” Big Dawg is located at 74 Bowne St, near the Cruise Terminal. Their number is (718) 643-9019.
At the same time, there’s a glue that binds the team, said Giordano’s wife, Catherine, who began working with her husband at Big Dawg about a year ago. And this glue is the commitment to customer service. “The trick is when you grow [as a business], not to forget what was in our mission statement,” said Catherine. “There are really no degrees for party rental specialist and some of it is in one’s make-up. Do we have the
Page 14 Red Hook Star-Revue
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June 2016