Party Party July/Aug 14

Month: July/August 2014 Issue 2 Volume 15

WOW!

More brand new designs from Our new Mid-Season range is now available!

Packed full of the latest trends and licenses.

We have balloons, themes, party, costumes and so much more!

All of our new ranges can be found online at www.amscan.co.uk or speak to your Amscan representative!

Celebrate in Style!

Introducing Amscan’s trendy milestone birthday range.

This bold and colourful design is complete with tableware, decorations, accessories and balloons, creating the perfect party!

Available to order today!

TEL: +44 (0)1908 288 500 E-MAIL: sales@amscan-uk.co.uk WEB: www.amscan.co.uk ©Amscan 2014, ©Anagram 2014 All rights reserved

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Free Fax: 0800 783 3882

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contents July/August 2014 Issue 8 Volume 14

Regulars 7

Leader with Caroline Eyles

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News - what’s the latest?

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What’s New – Find out what’s coming out

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Exhibition News - News from the trade shows

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Licensing News – the hottest news from the licensing world

Caroline Eyles Caroline@lemapublishing.co.uk

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Quick fire round with…Sandra Vanstan, Director Licensing EMEA st Amscan

Advertisement Manager

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Party Patter

Party Party team Editor

Paul Yeomans pyeomans@lemapublishing.co.uk

Features 16

Find out about the opening of the Amscan International’s new showroom

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Smiffy’s Road Test - Learn more about the company’s face painting products

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Children’s Parties - We take a look at what’s on offer in this popular sector of partying

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Christmas & New Year’s Eve - Party Party looks into the latest launches and decor for the festive season

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Costumes - Find out more about the fun outfits available and being launched

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Latex Balloons - Find out what rubber varieties are available to stock in store

Publishing Director Mark Naish mark@lemapublishing.co.uk

Production Director Paul Naish paul@lemapublishing.co.uk

Managing Director Malcolm Naish malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk

Circulation Manager Robert Thomas robert@lemapublishing.co.uk

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Columnist

Lema Publishing Ltd

PUBLISHING

1 Churchgates, The Wilderness, Berkhamsted, Herts, HP4 2UB Telephone: 01442 289930

At the heart of retail The views of the contributors expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the publisher. Comments, letters and criticism are welcome.

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Talk to an Angel - Emma Angel talks about preparing for Christmas

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New columnist Mark Brett gives us his lowdown on independent retailers

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The Word - Bapia’s John Bowler give us his review on the latest in the party industry

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Recipe of the month - See this month’s latest balloon design

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message from the

editor...

Caroline Eyles

PUBLISHING

At Heart of Retail

Also published by Lema Publishing

licensing T O D A Y

W O R L D W I D E

magazine

TableWare INTERNATIONAL

If you would like to subscribe to any of our other market leading titles please call Robert Thomas on 01442 289930 or email your request to robert@lemapublishing.co.uk

I

t’s been a crazy hot summer, and what comes with a heatwave is the innate desire to party! Everyone feels in the celebratory spirit, probably celebrating that England is getting some sunshine for once!

Allowing us to throw summer barbecues and garden parties, the party industry and all its fantastic products are revealed at their best.

And talking of parties and celebrations, Prince George celebrated his first birthday earlier this month on July 22nd, a perfect opportunity for retailers to cash in on children’s party gear. We have taken a look into this sector for you this month, since with a member of the Royal family celebrating his big day each Summer, we can be prepared for birthday bumpf to no doubt become more and more popular too. To find out more turn to page 21.

Also this month we take a look at Christmas. Yes, we know it’s only July and there is still six months before we need to wave goodbye to the sunshine and in welcome Santa, not to mention many other outfits and costumes being created with the festive season in mind.

For examples of what is on offer this year from nativity costumes for both adult and child, through to Christmas party suitage thanks to Opposuits, turn to page 26.

Our other features you can turn to to get the latest information within the industry is costumes themselves, not just those focusing in on Christmas, where companies like Fun Shack, Leg Avenue and many more reveal their latest releases and what is currently popular in the market. To see what you might like to stock turn to page 34.

And our fourth and final feature for this month is on the long running and ever popular Latex Balloons. A sector that is always going to thrive since they are suited to every occasion and every season, we learn more about the launches taking place, the new innovations being created and what is available for you to stock in store. Turn to page 42 to learn more.

Also in this issue we have caught up with Amscan. Following a visit to their brand new showroom based in Milton Keynes, we learn the response, and even pop in our own opinion at Party Party of how fantastic it was. And that’s not all, we bumped into our very own columnist John Bowler at the event who also shares his thoughts on the new idea of a

One Stop Party Shop. Turn to page 16 to discover what it was all about.

Nothing shows a product off more than seeing it in action, so we have taken this to the floor, and when I say floor I mean a room full of kids who wanted their faces painted, who wouldn’t?

Together with Smiffy’s we have road tested their products to learn more about the ease and convenience of their face paints, and their designs. Thanks to an experienced Face Painting Designer, Claire Naish, we were able to put these products to the test, and not only were Mum’s happy since the products were easy to not only use, but wash off! But the kids were more than happy too in getting to don their favourite face. Turn to page 18 to learn more about Smiffy’s face paints.

So now it comes to our regular features, but first up I would like to say a big thankyou to those of you who got in touch regarding Mark Brett’s first column last month. It was great to hear some of your thoughts and learn what you want to hear about, and how well Mark’s column went down with you all. With a number of years within the industry, he reveals experience from many different angles that is proving an interesting read. Following on from last month’s column, Mark continues with online retail this month on page 49.

We also have our lovely regulars offering us their insight on different topics including John Bowler on page 50, Emma Angel from Angels Fancy Dress on page 48 and our Balloon artist, Sue Bowler, offering us her latest recipe on page 51.

So now with another issue being put to bed, and the sun still shining I am to go outside with my hawaiian shirt and grass skirt and enjoy me some of the party atmosphere! Until next month, remember you can always contact me on caroline@lemapublishing.co.uk where I always hope to hear from you, otherwise see you again in September but until then, keep up your party spirit!

NEWS Get your copy now!

Bristol Novelty have published their Halloween Catalogue, highlighting all the new items for this year.

Discounts will be available for items ordered from the catalogue, contact the Sales Team on 0117 9724012 for details or if you want a copy posted out.

New Member to Bristol Novelty Team Bristol Novelty have expanded their Quality Control team with the appointment of Emily Newman.

Emily has previously worked in the customer services team so is very familiar with the requirements and regulations of our customer base.

She will be working with Neil Higbey to ensure the continued compliance with all Product Safety and Quality Control issues.

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New Fun Shack Web Features Fun Shack have recently added some new web features to their online site www.funshack.com.

These new features are available when logged into your Fun Shack account online and enable you to: - View ‘Next Available Stock Dates’ for out of stock items - View ‘back orders’ and also confirm and amend back orders online - Quick order upload. Download the quick order spreadsheet template and then upload your orders easily through the web.

If you would like any more information about these new features then please contact your account manager or the office on 0113 2001050 or email sales@funshack.com

BAPIA starts planning 2014 GOSH party décor For the second year running BAPIA is supporting Great Ormond Street Hospital with décor for the Children’s Christmas Parties. The décor day is run as a class, with Christopher Horne and Sue Bowler CBA as the designers/instructors ensuring that it will be fun, interesting and creative. The 2013 décor class was a huge success and was fully booked within an hour of being released and many people asking if they could book for 2014 straight after the class. Most importantly, the décor brought huge smiles to the children’s faces at the parties and it became very

clear how important the décor was to the whole event. This year BAPIA are hoping to increase their involvement with the parties by including FacePainters and Candy Carts and even Character appearances. This is a 100% charitable event with all goods and services for the décor being donated free of charge and all profits going directly to the charity.

Check the BAPIA facebook page or website for more details. www.Facebook.com/balloonandparty www.bapiaonline.com

A Touch of Sparkle Golf Day with Malcolm Naish The 16th Party Party golf day - a day shared with two of our sister titles - saw a number of Party animals do rather well.

Leading the charge was Smiffy’s Simon Smithers and Ross Johnson, whose team four ball won the event by 10 points with an impressive 114 points. Second, but certainly not disgraced were Fun ‘n’ Frolics duo Jan and Kelvyn Marketis along with ‘Party Party’s very own party and golfing animal Malcolm Naish and team mate Neal Leah.

The latter foursome also came second in both the morning round and the yellow ball competition, proving

that in our case if you can’t win, then second is acceptable- I’m sure our footballers would have settled for second place!

It is however most disappointing that more golfers from the party industry do not support this golf day. Played at Staverton Park, five minutes from junction 16 of the M1, the event is played off full handicap, nearly always enjoys fantastic weather with a most relaxed prize giving whilst we are all sitting outside having enjoyed a fabulous barbeque.

So industry golfers please consider playing next year – the date scheduled is Thursday the 2nd July.

Price Promise Just when you thought their 1100-line price promise couldn’t get any better, Smiffy’s go and add more than 160 extra lines!

From make up to masks, accessories to wigs, they’ve added a whole host of products which they believe you can’t buy for less.

Contact your Customer Services Advisor if you haven’t already received your new Price Promise brochure; full of prices guaranteed to make you smile.

Party Party’s Publisher Mark Naish was invited with friends to attend a rather upmarket birthday bash in Oxford The theme of the occasion and the only requirement of the guests was to wear ‘a touch of sparkle’. And so our publisher Mark read this to be his finest Pimp regalia - who wouldn’t? Party Party’s good friends at Smiffy’s supplied the full costumes and accessories, and to say that they stood out and added a touch of class is an understatement!

Mark comments: “Both my good friend Alex (international businessman) and myself had a fantastic time and the costumes definitely added to the occasion! I actually got a little tired of being asked if I was an actual pimp - the costumes are that good!”

To order these great costumes contact Smiffy’s on 0800 590599.

Snooker Loopy Steve Davis, six times snooker world champion, was well and truly snookered in Warwick recently. The ‘I’m a Celebrity’ star was lost for words when he was confronted by the Mask-arade team on one of their famous celebrity stunts.

Davis was appearing at Warwick Spice restaurant and the multi-award winning party mask company provided every guest with a mask of the snooker superstar.

Marketing Director, Dean Walton, said “Steve turned out to be a great sport and was more than happy to join in the fun, he is just the latest in a long line of celebrities to be ‘maskaraded’. It’s our unique form of marketing and gives everyone a good laugh at the same time.”

In fact, Steve went on to use one of his masks to fool a fan whose wife arranged for a special surprise appearance, Neil Lawrence thought it was just a man wearing a Steve Davis mask for a joke at his local social club in East Grinstead, he could hardly believe his eyes when the famous face removed the mask to reveal his true identity.

Mask-arade have been named finalists in both the Nectar Small Business Awards and the National Business Awards, the current Pride of Stratford double award winners are now hoping to add to their accolades at a national level.

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NEWS Leg Avenue extend their Queen Size Range The queen size costumes in the Leg Avenue collection have always been a great success.

Perfect for the women sized 42 - 44, 14 -16 UK, the company believes that every woman and girl is beautiful and has the right to wear fabulous costumes like Leg Avenue’s, even when her size is bigger than a medium or large.

With this new queen size collection Leg Avenue hopes to make women aware of their beauty.

Trudy Pijnacker comments: “Beauty comes in all sizes and we truly believe every women is beautiful. These costumes have skirts that are a little bit longer, the arms are mostly covered and there is more fabric around the waist, allowing more modesty for the fuller figure. Leg Avenue also provide the petticoats and a large collection of hosiery with the Queen Size costumes.”

Regular New products

Retailers urged to collaborate for success Following July’s national Independent Retailer Month, retailers are being encouraged to recognise the benefits of collaboration on the high street.

The annual campaign, now in its fourth year, saw hundreds of small businesses running events and activities to raise awareness of their local high street, with many working together to offer excitement and enticement to their communities.

Springboard Research for the British Retail Consortium last year found that high street footfall was down 26% between 2007 and 2013 during traditional hours. However, it should be noted that the same research revealed growth in numbers between 5.00pm and 8.00pm.

Clare Rayner, The Retail Champion and Founder of the Support for Independent Retail campaign, says: “Other than opening later in the evenings or physically pushing people through the shop doors, independent

Party Party focuses on some of the hottest items on the market this month

Cheers!

Eye eye captain!

Just arrived into stock is a new range of Men’s and Women’s Bavarian costumes ideal for any Oktoberfest celebration.

The Bavarian Lady is a longer length dress and comes in sizes S to XXL and the Sexy Bavarian Girl is a short and sexy dress available in sizes S to XL. www.fun-shack.com

Saving lives Also just arrived into stock and perfect for any summer festival or party are a range of sport uniforms such as lifeguards and jockeys www.fun-shack.com

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retailers should collaborate to figure out ways to bring the excitement and enticement back to the high street.

“By working together to find fun, original ways to promote each other, local independent retailers can engage the public’s interest and help them to understand the benefits of shopping locally.”

She continues: “Collaborative events can go a long way to bringing a community together and increasing footfall on the high street. Although some customers may get involved in the events and activities for July only, many more will remember the experience and find themselves shopping in their local stores again in the future.

“Consumers need to be reminded of the advantages of shopping locally, and how those advantages benefit not only the smaller businesses and boutique shops, but the local economy as a whole.”

Eye Masks have always been a strong point with Bristol Novelty and 17 more new ones have just arrived.

They are the style that can be worn like a pair of glasses, so that eating, drinking and socialising are not compromised with some adopting a pumpkin theme perfect for Halloween.

E XHIBITION NEWS New Excitement for Halloween & Party Expo Out with the old, in with the New – New Orleans, that is. With the floorplan already more than 90 per cent sold, new exhibitors registering weekly, and nearly 20 partner hotels selling through their rooms, the Halloween & Party Expo is ramping up for a fantastic first show in New Orleans, February 6 – 9, 2015.

The Halloween & Party Expo is the international showcase for all things party, costume, fantasy and Halloween, and New Orleans is arguably one of the most party-centric cities on the planet.

Because they enjoy world-class celebrations like Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, countless food and music festivals, and championship-level sporting events, the residents of New Orleans know how to have fun and throw a good party, making this city a perfect match for the Halloween & Party Expo in 2015 and beyond.

“We are thrilled about moving to a new city, and especially one with such a great reputation for its celebratory spirit and fun,” says Jonathan Erwin of the Halloween & Party Expo. “The facilities and hotel options are phenomenal, and their proximity to areas like the French Quarter will really add to the excitement during the show.”

The Halloween & Party Expo is the largest global show of its kind, highlighting thousands of products from the Halloween, Party, Fantasy Costume and other similarly related industries. Attendees from more than 63 countries converge annually to preview the latest trends, meet old and new contacts and attend a myriad of additional events including fashion shows, free educational seminars and

Viva Las Vegas It had to happen eventually... fresh from being named as one of the UK’s Top 50 fastest growing businesses, the innovative party mask company is now gearing up for global expansion.

The Mask-arade team have just returned from the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas where a series of high profile meetings has opened the doors to more lucrative licensing deals for some of the world’s leading brands.

Licensing Director, Ray Duffy said, “after exhibiting at two trade fairs in Germany earlier this year and securing distribution channels across Europe our next target is naturally the USA.” The Warwickshire based business continues to grow at an impressive rate, a fact recognised recently when Maskarade were named in the Santander Breakthrough 50 - an awards scheme created in partnership with Smarta to identify businesses that have captured a significant market share, are growing future revenues and have a clear vision to develop even further in the future.

Ex-TV Dragon Theo Paphitis remembers Mask-arade well, “I have known these guys since their appearance on Dragons’ Den. They have tremendous passion and enthusiasm for their products and I congratulate them on this Award, which is very well deserved.” he acknowledged.

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workshops, professional association meetings and much more.

Registration and hotel reservations are now open – and filling fast – so be sure to make your plans now for the 2015 Halloween & Party Expo. And don’t forget - with Halloween falling on a Saturday in 2015, consumers will no doubt be looking to celebrate, so be prepared with the best products the industry has to offer by attending in February!

Visit www.HalloweenPartyExpo.com for more information.

Seasonal Decoration at its Best Christmasworld 2014 left no doubt again: it is the highlight for the decoration sector. Its power of attraction reaches from Frankfurt around the whole world.

32,864 international trade visitors and 918 exhibitors were delighted with the dazzling new products and innovative trends for all festive occasions of the year to be seen at Christmasworld 2014.

Brilliant concept ideas for decorating large-scale and outdoor surfaces in the wholesale and retail trades, building and DIY markets and the green sector rounded off the portfolio at the world’s leading trade.

In good time for the new business and, therefore, festive season, the world’s leading trade fair for festive decorations shows annually the innovative and original products offered by the international decoration sector. Around 920 exhibitors from all over the world will be presenting their original decorations for every occasion.

With its unique range of products, Christmasworld is the indispensable and reliable trend and order platform for retail and wholesale buyers from garden centres and DIY markets, bulk buyers, florists, shopping-centre managers, interior furnishing specialists, designers and decorators. But that’s not all: Christmasworld presents not only the coming decoration trends and new products for all festivities of the year but also complete decoration concepts, which are becoming increasingly popular for large-scale and outdoor decorations, as well as for in-shop presentations.

The complementary programme delivers additional inspirations on a wide variety of themes. In addition to high-quality special presentations, a daily changing programme of lectures and workshops will take place.

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New Orleans, LA | February 6–9

See what’s behind the mask.

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Licensing News

To the Zou Creative Party are excited to be launching a new range of licenced Zou partyware, décor and accessories featuring Zou, Elzee and Poc! The range is cute, colourful and brings the joyful nature of Zou to any children’s party.

Stars of the range include new Balloon Clusters, which come with a Giant foil, 4 18” foils as well as pre-cut ribbons for a spectacular balloon decoration that is simple and easy to assemble as well as Activity Placemats with stickers, a great way to keep the kids entertained at the party.

Mask-arade jump into the ring!

Mask-arade is thrilled to announce the launch of its latest licence, Official WWE Face Masks!

The range is being launched with the faces of seven WWE Superstars including Daniel Bryan and John Cena!

The range also includes WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and Sheamus!

www.mask-arade.com

www.creativepartyltd.com

To Colour and Keep Take a look at Star Cut-outs new launch of their product ‘Colour and Keep’.

Combining the world of craft, imagination and play. The new colour and keep range from Star cut-outs features Mickey and Minnie mouse in a bumper party pack of 12 masks.

Ideal for children’s party’s as a party bag filler and activity, or memento of an afternoon of creativity.

Their standees of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Jake and the Neverland Pirates, great for group activity’s and children’s birthday parties , designed for colouring with a variety of pens, paint, and crayon, sticking with feathers, glitter, sequins, or anything else!

With the mind of our future designers at the helm, the sky is the limit!

www.starcutouts.com

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Frozen Bubbles from Qualatex This family-friendly film has exploded in popularity and shows no sign of slowing down. Although the movie takes place in a winter setting, the theme can be celebrated all year-round. Be sure to stock up on the new 22” Frozen Bubble Balloon along with the coordinating Qualatex products, such as Snowflakes Sparkles available on latex and foil balloons.

www.qualatex.com

Happy Anniversary Wonka!

Smiffys 0800 590599 www.smiffys.com Smiffys are excited to announce their brand new Roald Dahl license.

Smiffys latest license comes in time for two Roald Dahl celebrations; the first is Roald Dahl dress up day on 26th September, which encourages primary school children to dress up as their favourite Roald Dahl character, and the second is the 50th anniversary of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Phil Hewlett, Regional Sales Manager says: “We’re committed to making sure all our products look as authentic as possible, and this is reflected in our latest addition to our licensing portfolio. We’re excited to introduce our Roald Dahl license, which we’re expecting to be an instant hit with consumers.”

Stock is due in August, and customers should contact their Customer Service Advisor today to place their orders.

For the festivals Morphsuits 0330 0882510 www.morphsuits.co.uk The festival Morphsuits range storms in with a collection of novelty group costumes, including officially licensed Tetris costumes that use pop-up tent technology to transform revellers into a block party in seconds, an officially licensed Marvel super hero dream team, a gang of Mr Men characters, and for double trouble, the fun Breast Friends costume will ensure you’re snug at the bosom and guaranteed to grab a few double takes.

Don’t just be the king of the party this year, be the king of the festival!

www.partypartymag.co.uk

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Profile Amscan

Europe’s largest showroom opens Party Party’s Caroline Eyles and Paul Yeomans pay a visit to the opening of Amscan’s new 500 square metre showroom based in Milton Keynes, perfect for buyers looking to shop for party products all under one roof

A

mscan International have launched a 500 square metre showroom in Milton Keynes, showcasing over 10,000 party, balloon and dress-up products. This is the largest Party Showroom outside of the US and communicates Amscan’s expertise and depth across these categories.

Conveniently located close to junction 13 of the M1, this facility enables retailers and wholesalers of all sizes throughout the UK and Europe to view and select latest products and programs, merchandising innovations and seasonal previews.

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“

The showroom enables us to communicate to our customers in a way that compliments our traditional methods of Trade Shows, Advertising & Trade Website

Jennifer Wilson, Retail Merchandising Manager & Showroom Controller, says, “The showroom enables us to communicate to our customers in a way that compliments our traditional methods of Trade Shows, Advertising & Trade Website. We’ve merchandised everything as a retail statement which, through our own experience, massively increases basket spend to the end consumer” Everything is merchandised chronologically from Baby Shower, Baby, First Birthday, Juvenile then through Milestone ages. Every occasion and party theme is also represented.

Retailers can use the showroom as

”

a guide for retail ‘best practice’ and as everything is on standard fixtures can be replicated in the real world.

Centrepiece to the showroom is the largest Balloon Wall and counter outside of the US illustrating the sheer breadth and depth of Amscan’s foil balloon line under the Anagram brand.

Foil Balloons remain a retailers biggest opportunity for margin enhancements and this facility will also be used to train retailers & decorators to decorate, inflate & retail across all categories.

Jim Young, Marketing Manager, says, “There are over 100 programs in the showroom, and over 30 licensed party programs, so it’s most certainly worth a visit!”

The ribbon was cut by Mike McGillion, VP International Retail Development “We are all really excited to open our doors and show people why we are the number one choice.

“Amscan are a trusted partner for over 40,000 retailers around the world, who come to us again and again because we offer expert advice and innovative products at competitive prices and by coming to the showroom you’ll see exactly this.”

“You’ll also see our hard work and energy that we’ve put into creating the most innovative and trend setting products in the market across each of our “One Stop Party”, balloon and costume categories.”

Contact Amscan on 01908 288500 directly or via your local account manager to book an appointment.

Party Party Editor Caroline Eyles and Advertising Manager Paul Yeomans paid the showroom a visit and were lucky enough to be given a tour by Amscan International’s marketing manager James Young.

“It was such an amazing opportunity to see all of Amscan’s products under one roof. The layout makes it so easy to not only comprehensively see what is available, but be encouraged into expanding your buying budget since the range is so vast. From the same product in different colours through to higher end party products and catering partyware there is something for everyone. But seeing it all in one space, one room even just made it easy to take in.”

Party Party’s columnist John Bowler comments: “I attended the recent opening of the new Amscan showroom at Milton Keynes which is a most impressive place with displays of products covering all of the seasons and every occasion, and I know that Christopher Horne is creating different seasonal displays to show off the product range.

“I was fortunate enough to see the transition from empty warehouse to fully stocked showroom and it brought home to me what a difference it makes to actually see the physical products in the flesh.

“While catalogues, both hard copy and online, are a great resource for purchasing there is nothing quite like a visit to your local distributor or attending a trade show so that you can get a little more up close and personal with the products available.”

www.partypartymag.co.uk

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Sponsored Feature e

Facing facts

Party Party tries out Smiffys new Aqua Make-Up FX face and body painting products to find out just how great they are for kids Smiffys have spent the last 12 months completely transforming their Make-Up FX range. With a complete redesign, it has been reformulated to give even coverage, a perfect even finish that lasts and suitable even for the most senstive of skins. With the help of some of our Party Party kids, we put the product to the test!

The important factors that Smiffys have worked hard on and have quite clearly achieved over the past 12 months with their brand spanking new range including the following: • Greatly enhanced coverage • More vivid colours • Easy to remove with water

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Safety comes first: • The full range is hypoallergenic

• Completely non-toxic, having exceeded all EU Safety Standards

• These accolades offer complete piece of mind, especially when working with children

Ella, aged 6: I wanted to be a clown so I could wear pink on my face and I get to havea red nose and wear bright red lipstick.

Ella’s Mum, Lucy Spratt: Ella loved having her face painted and chose a clown as she loves to be funny. Seeing her so excited it was easy to see how happy she was, plus she has sensitive skin and yet it washed off really easy and there were no complaints about it being itchy.

The improved formula is water based, which means: • It doesn’t dehydrate the skin • It feels more flexible • No cracks, even after hours of wear • More comfortable to wear

Daisy, aged 6:

I like animals so I chose to look like a fo fox. It looks really cool and I get to wear go gold on my face too.

Improved quality across s the full range: • The palettes won’t on’t crack

• They’re practically ally odourless

• Less product is needed to create te full coverage

Daisy’s Mum, Tracy Morton: Daisy very much enjoyed it, she didn’t want to wash it off even at the end of the day.

Sponsored Feature Available in a range of rich, opaque colours: • The colour stays vibrant for longer • There’s no fear it will stain clothes • It’s easy to remove with water

Face painting professional: Claire Naish: They are a pleasure to use and the colours work really together and don’t mix when they overlap. The products sponge on easily and with the Smiffys Make-Up FX brushes, the finer details were easy to accomplish and layer on top of the bottom layers already on the face.

There was no smudging either and wiped off easily if I needed to re-do a different stroke once more.

Washing the paint off both the brushes and also the children’s faces was incredibly easy and only needed water.

Personally the electric gold was my favourite to use since sometimes this can look more dull on the face than it does in the pot, but this keeps its vibrant colour even after a few hours.

The kids all ate cakes after their faces were painted and despite all the cream, the colour on the lips remained meaning no touch ups were needed.

Verdict: The products create a fantastic finish and come with designs to help achieve the look the child is after. No smudging, easily applied, no need to mix and easy to wash off.

Poppy, aged 5: I’m a naughty monster and I like it because it means I can scare everyone

Our tips for application: • Spray the palette with one spray of water to moisten (one spray is enough, too much water will dilute the colour pigment) • Spray your sponge rather than dipping it in water • Load your sponge by working the colour into a smooth paste • Dab onto the skin, rather than using strokes - this will allow you to build up full, even coverage • Add other details like flowers or whiskers using a brush or cotton buds, repeating the process of spraying with water to moisten then working colour into a paste

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“

We understand that to create fun, authentic looks you need a variety of colours, so that’s why our Aqua MakeUp FX range is quality at a price you can afford, making it accessible for everyone. From the likes of children’s party face painters, to body artists competing in worldwide competitions, there’s no compromise on quality. The new and improved Aqua Make-Up FX range is key to completing the fun effect, and bringing serious fun to the world!

Dominique Peckett Director

”

Childrens Parties Feature

For the kids...

Party Party learns more about the latest trends in children’s partyware and products

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ach and every year parents take time to prepare and plan their child’s birthday party. These can cause quite a stress, needing not only the right products and amount, but also a theme that the child will be happy with and respond to. From a licensed character through to a theme that’s more girly or more masculine, as a child’s excitement brews towards their big day, so does the budget parents are prepared to spend on their little one.

Tracey Cooper Director at one the UK’s leading partyware companies, Neviti, comments: There’s always so much involved in planning children’s parties that anything that saves a bit of time and stress is a relief to any parent.”

Anna Bubovna at Qualatex adds: “First birthdays are one of the most widelycelebrated milestones all over the world.

Even though the birthday boy or girl may not remember much, the parents still want the day to be a big celebration. Fun, colourful balloons are a staple at many first birthday parties because of their widelyranging appeal with adults and children alike. Classic themes for first birthdays include animals, princesses or cartoon characters, such as Mickey & Minnie Mouse.

In terms of colour pink for girls and blue for boys will always be the traditional choice.

However popular baby colours are also shifting from softer hues to brighter pastels, like Lime Green and Robin’s Egg Blue.”

With coordinators and experts on hand to help parents these days there is so much to create and choose from, and its your job as a retailer to entice them to the right products and brand that will cater for their entire party.

From plastic cups right through to the costume they wear on their big day, this is an opportunity for you to cash in on every sector possible, balloons, decor, paper plates and fancy dress, the options are endless.

Pirate parties, princess parties, cars parties and cartoon characters are all great favourites, and are easy to organise.

Alternatively, with the help of Amscan’s range why not offer consumers the opportunity to pick out their child’s favourite colour from their range of partyware products available in block

colours. Also the options of wildlife animals would appeal, not to mention licensed products such as Disney’s Frozen that has hit an all time success rate. And it’s not just at the party, further extension of where you can make money can also include the invitation pre-party arranging, followed by party bags and boxes available to stock and also thankyou cards.

Another great factor that continues to keep this category at the fore of parents consumer habits is that there is no one time in a year that is popular; your products can be a hit with different parents all year around since not only is it someone’s birthday everyday, even if one child has had their birthday, their sibling’s party might be just around the corner. If your products prove to be a hit with parents first time around, then it’s a great guarantee you will see them again.

Graham Heeley, Product Manager of Everyday Party at Amscan International comments: “We want to develop ranges that bring all the family together, kids and parents, for some hours of fun and bonding. Our Little Cooks gives parents and families, alternative theme party ideas and it’s definitely a good way for children to learn how to cook their favourite treats while having some fun.”

Amscan aren’t alone in adopting the new trend of cooking and baking when it comes to children’s partyware.

Neviti and Creative Party have adopted similar themes with cupcakes and cake cutters proving a hit with consumers too.

Neviti’s Tracey

Cooper comments: “Our cupcake cases and picks are always good sellers offering an excellent way to jazz up some shop bought cakes if you haven’t got time to bake your own. Other popular items include our bubbles and party bags as all you need is a few sweets and a piece of cake and your gifts for your party guest are complete. We have all been looking forward to the launch of these collections offering something very different to our existing children’s ranges. We hope our customers will love these collections as much as we have loved designing them.”

So plenty of variety to be had when it comes to children’s parties. The products and options of colours and themes spread far and wide, turn the page to learn more about what is new or on offer within the sector.

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Feature Childrens Parties

Time4Fun goody bag gifts Smiffys 0800 590599 www.smiffys.com A party wouldn’t be a party without a goody bag to take home, and filling them with toys and gifts from Smiffys’ Time4Fun range will mean that that children’s party will be the talk of the playground for weeks to come. With hundreds of competitively priced items to choose from, kids will love the variety and parents will love the price! Customers should contact their Customer Service Advisor today for a copy of the Time4Fun brochure with the full range of products.

New release for Children’s Book Week Fun Shack 0113 200 1050

All in a licence Smiffys 0800 590599 www.smiffys.com The summer is a hotspot for kids’ parties, and Smiffy’s have all the essentials to make them go down a treat! With costumes, games and goody bag gifts galore, many of which are covered by their new and improved price promise, Smiffy’s have all the stops covered when it comes to throwing the perfect children’s parties.

Themed fancy dress parties are a must this summer, and with Smiffy’s huge range of kids’ fancy dress, parents won’t need to panic when their little one brings that invite home. Horrible Histories costumes are perfect for little kids with big imaginations! Kids can now embrace their favourite characters like the Slimy Stuarts, Vile Victorians, Terrible Tudors and Rotten Romans. We love the Horrible Histories Tudor Executioner Costume, which is perfect for boys. The officially licensed costume includes a black jacket, shorts and mask.

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www.fun-shack.co.uk Fun Shack has just released its 2014 Children’s Book Week costume catalogue which is filled with new and exciting costumes to make any children’s party a success. New costumes include a range of hooded animal tops such as sheep, donkey and monkey as well as many other party character favourites like Cowboy, Pink Missie mouse and Mexican poncho. All children’s costumes come in a range of sizes from Small (4-6 years) through to XLarge (10-12 years).

What a hoot!

InCharacter 0845 180 6545 www.angelsdistribution.co.uk Choose from a huge range of kids’ costumes including the endearing What A Hoot, Mischievous Monkey and This Lil’ Piggy within the Lil Characters and 2b InCharacter ranges. With skid-resistant foot pads, all costumes are fully lined all-in-one outfits, with poppers to allow for easy nappy changes. InCharacter also has a great selection for older children and teens, including Ninja, Loyal Knight, Vampiress and Mysterious Mermaid.

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s e m u t Cos

k c o t in s t 2014 Augus

A todar y S C r u de t yo Contaeccure your or to s

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Feature Childrens Parties

Costumes for kids too!

Morphsuits 0330 0882510 www.morphsuits.co.uk Dressing up and fancy dress isn’t just for big kids – the officially licensed Animal Planet range of children’s outfits from Morph Costumes lets kids transform into their favourite animal characters from their favourite stories – animals available are: Tiger, Cobra, Jaguar, Grizzly Bear, Gorilla and Vampire Bat. Parents can also plan ahead for this Halloween with bone-chilling children’s costumes including: the Monster Mouth, Mummy, Black and White Skeleton

and Alien Kids Morphsuits. Then kids can get in on the action and explore the universe and drive at super-speed with the Ninja, Astronaut, Racer and Commando Morphsuits.

And if that isn’t enough, kids can rock on Morph style in their favourite colours, by sporting the original Morphsuits range, just in slightly smaller sizes! Colours available are: Black, Red, Pink, Green, Blue, Orange and Purple.

Disney, Little Cooks and much more

Perfect for celebrating

Amscan

Neviti

0800 590599

0845 6381358

www.amscan.co.uk

www.neviti.com

Amscan offer a huge variety of products for children’s parties across different ranges and collections including licenses such as Disney’s characters, Thomas and Friends, Spiderman, Pepper Pig and Fisher Price. From napkins to cake tiers, hanging decorations to table decorations, balloons to tablecovers, Amscan are sure to have all the trends.

Their ‘Little Cooks’ range was created around the idea of the massive growth of TV cooking programmes and because of them the interest in home baking and cooking has never been greater. The ‘Little Cooks’ range feature designs of Sam and Samantha printed across a range of products which are primarily aimed at both boys and girls ages between 3 to 6. The range includes a three level cupcake stand, birthday banners, ice-cream pots with spoons, invitations, napkins and many more products.

Amscan have been a trusted partner for over 40,000 retailers around the world, who offer innovative products such as the ‘Little Cooks’ range which was designed in house by their great design team as nobody offers a range that helps busy parents plan and hold a great cooking party.

Birthday parties couldn’t be more fun with the exciting new summer launches from Neviti. The team have created two new collections perfect for children’s celebrations both featuring a vibrant rainbow colour palette.

Tree Top Friends is the stunning new collection for girls featuring an adorable owl and songbird design across a wide range of party essentials. Catering for your party is made easy with a beautiful array of tableware including plates, cups, napkins and treat tubs all featuring the gorgeous owl illustrations. The collection offers some lovely decorations including an eye catching bunting and beautiful blue and pink balloons featuring the cute owl design.

The new collection for boys is Robot Heroes featuring a futuristic theme with four friendly robot characters. The range makes party catering a breeze with a wonderful selection of tableware including plates, cups, napkins, treat tubs and lunch boxes adding a real splash of colour to your celebration. It’s easy to spread the word about your gathering too with fun party invites and the Robot Heroes party bags provide an excellent gift for your party guests.

The name stickers within the range are an exciting new item for Neviti and we’re sure these are going to be a huge success.

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Childrens Parties Feature

Fun dots and paper!

First Birthday Balloons

Unique 01724 281113

Qualatex 01279 501090 www.qualatex.com Balloons in can be a very important addition to a first birthday party, making for memorable decor and photo opportunities.

In between seasonal holidays, retailers will benefit from in-store promotions and window displays featuring first birthday ideas at a variety of price points.

Qualatex offers a wide selection of first birthday balloons including the new Me To You lineup featuring Tiny Tatty Teddy, a lovable grey bear who is popular with young and old alike.

Instant Party Atmosphere North Star 01538 382998

www. uniquepartysupplies. co.uk Unique’s bright, fun dots, paper and chains are ideal for decorating classrooms and party events. The company also stock a wide range of matching accessories including plates, banner, hanging decorations and napkins.

Adorable array of creatures

www.northsatrsballoons.eu

Rasta Imposta

Any children’s party is always very considerably enhanced by the use of Northstar Foil Balloons as they create an instant party atmosphere and certainly take the party décor or theme to a higher level - quite literally!

The company’s industry leading Numbers and Letters in 16” Air Filled or 34” Helium formats can be used to spell out the child’s name and/or age for a real “personalisation” feature. The 18” Happy Birthday Message Balloons, Large Shapes or the new excellent value 3D Spheres will all add a significant something extra to any children’s party or event.

High selling themed ranges for 2014 have proved to be Sea Life, Pirate, Princess, Safari and Action Toys with each offering including intricate and eye catching Shapes. Particular highlights being respectively: Jellyfish and Seahorse, Pirate Octopus and Jolly Pirate Ship, Daphne Dragon and Fairy Godmother, Tiger and Zebra plus Black or Red Helicopter and Motorcycle.

More than enough to really be the highlight of any girl or boy’s big birthday event!

0845 180 6545 www.angelsdistribution. co.uk Rasta Imposta has an adorable array of creatures for your little ones to dress up as, from Giraffes, Sharks and Turtles, with matching adult and children’s versions available.

Alternative quirky options include Get Real Cheeseburger, as well as a veritable rainbow of colour choices within the licensed Crayola range for kids, which come in a variety of sizes from 3 to 10 years.

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Feature Christmas and NYE

Festive frivolity!

Party Party takes a look at the festive season and what products are being launched to help us celebrate with plenty of festive cheer

‘A

t Christmas play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year,’ says Kerrie Stapylton from Fun Shack, echoing not only the original quote from Thomas Tusser but also the general Christmas party spirit at Fun Shack.

Tis the season to be jolly, and never was this more accurate with the new array of costumes and products available within the ever expanding party industry. Both Halloween and Christmas seem to be taking the world by storm with parties, and dressing up for them, becoming bigger than ever. From the external decorations on houses through to the office parties needing more va va voom with the help of fancy dress, the festive spirit knows no bounds, which can only mean one great thing for us, more sales!

Louise Doyle, Product Manager - Seasonal at Amscan comments: “This is definitely one of the most important events of the year and people love to go out and celebrate with friends, family and colleagues. Best sellers in our range include wearables which are something easy to sell online or as an impulse purchase in store.”

The most popular costumes nowadays are the ones you buy out right and don’t need to return. However, with this in mind, it extends further and not just with costumes but

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also partyware. Neviti, a leading company that holds its own designs for a number of ranges of partyware advocate this popular purchase, believing it makes throwing a party much easier, particularly in a busy festive period where by the end of the night the last thing you will want to do, let alone be conscious enough to do should you have consumed too much egg nog, is start washing up!

Tracey Cooper Director at Neviti comments: “Disposable tableware is always popular for Christmas and New Year celebrations meaning you can enjoy the party without the washing up at the end of the night. We have these additional items in our Shimmering Snowflake range which offer a more complete collection for our customers.”

With Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland being emulated across the country, the concept of Christmas festivals is taking over the UK. This not only involves an intercontinental link with our good friends in Germany but also encourages dressing up not only in Santa suits but also other party flavours and themes spring to mind such as gingerbread houses and mulled wine. With influences from across Europe being adopted here in the UK more and more each

year this means we should keep our eyes peeled for potential hit sellers.

Giving us her first hand experience of the consumers coming into her store, independent retailer Ruth Goodman of Fancy Dress Bash based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, comments: “I am planning for Christmas already as this is one of my busiest times.

I’m making sure that I stock up on table decorations and Santa suits.”

Santa suits are always one of the biggest hits each year for obvious reason, but this year, extending their range from the traditional plush red and white Santa, Palmer Agencies are stocking up on more traditional style outfits, including an extension to their nativity range of Shepherds, along side Joseph and Mary.

Sergio Battaner, marketing director at Palmer Agencies says: “Available this year is a festive range of high end plush costume in packed a beautiful presentation Christmas boxes, but also a range of continental styles of Santa costumes which prove very successful in the market when it comes to Santa grottos.”

Trudi Pijnacker from Leg Avenue is also in support of wearing a festive costume for many different occasions, she says: “Something we all have been waiting for. Leg Avenue’s new Christmas Costumes are great for a evening out or for a relaxed evening on the couch with family and friends. A perfect Christmas catsuit and dress will be new additions to our current costume collection. Fun, flirty and sexy are keywords for these festive costumes.”

So be you a fun and flirty festive spiriter or someone who wants it for a grotto, turn the page to find out what Christmas products are available.

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Feature Christmas and NYE

Everything needed to celebrate!

Amscan 01908 288500 www.amscan.co.uk Christmas is a time to get together with the family, relax and completely overindulge. Amscan have so much to choose from across their Christmas range - from tableware to create that perfect festive backdrop, to balloons, decorations and much more. They have everything needed to make the festive season a real celebration!

The Amscan catalogue and collection features Christmas themed centrepieces, decorations, tableware, banners, and even piñatas! The costume accessories include headbands for mini elves, reindeer, Santa and also Christmas shot glass necklaces! Along with the Christmas celebrations, New Years Eve celebrations are just as fun. Amscan are always sure to have everything needed for the perfect party event, and the product list is endless. Everyone loves a party with full decorations and accessories such as centrepieces, hanging decorations, confetti, garlands and fancy dress accessories! A store should have everything for its customers to throw a perfect party. Although it may seem a long while until the celebrations start, it will creep up as soon as people know it and shops need to purchase from Amscan soon so their shops are prepared in advance.

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Novelty cut outs Rasta Imposta 0845 180 6545 www.angelsdistribution.co.uk Embrace the festive spirit with Rasta Imposta’s easy to wear novelty cut-out costumes such as Gingerbread Man, Mr Snowman, Turkey, Santa Hat, and Christmas Tree, complete with tinsel, decorations and presents! Available in one size, and designed to fit most adults, these larger than life foam costumes are guaranteed to make an impact. Brand new in 2014 we have the Wine Bottle and Beer Mug Dresses, with old favourites such as Lightweight Beer Bottle and Vodka all being perfect for toasting the New Year in style.

Feature Christmas and NYE

Down to Baby Business INCHARACTER 0845 180 6545 www.angelsdistribution.co.uk Brand new costumes for 2014 include Baby Business, available in sizes ranging from 6 – 24 months, and the festive Santa’s Lil’ Helper. InCharacter also offers some great 1920s New Year party costumes for children, and themed ranges for the whole family. Why not deck the baby out as Cap’n Stinker, the tweens and teens as Swashbucklin’ Sass and Pirate Babe, and for the adults Pretty Pirate, Buccaneer Beauty (part of our plus size range) or Dead Man’s Chest.

Affordable Christmas Costumes Fun Shack 0113 2001050 www.fun-shack.com Fun Shack has introduced a variety of affordable Christmas costumes for 2014 to complement is already popular Christmas range. The colours of Christmas this year will once again be those traditional colours that everyone associates with Christmas every year –Reds, Greens and Whites. New costumes for 2014 include reindeer, Christmas cracker, Santa’s sweetie, Christmas cutie and not forgetting the Santa mankini.

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Fun Shack also has an incredible range of great quality childrens nativity costumes at affordable prices these costumes include all the must haves for any nativity setting: Mary, Joseph, wise men, shepherds, angelic angel as well as a shining star.

Fun Shack have expanded their Christmas range for 2014 to include Christmas Cracker, Christmas Cutie a Santa Mankini plus much more

Christmas and NYE Feature

New Snowman and Snowdog lines

Festive Shimmer

Creative Party

Neviti

01202 590222

0845 6381358

www.creativepartyltd.com

www.neviti.com

The Snowman and The Snowdog is the must have licence for the Christmas season. Creative Party have launched even more products for Christmas 2014 after the incredible success of the range in 2013.

New lines include Activity Placemats with Stickers, a Cookie Cutter Set, perfect for Christmas family baking, Wafer Cake Topper Set, Cupcake Boxes as well as a Luxury Figurine Set for your Christmas cakes which features a new addition to The Snowdog family, The Penguin. The extensions to the range revolve around Christmas baking, and encourage families to get together with the kids to make some wonderful magical festive treats that are perfect gifts for Christmas, all completed with The Snowman and The Snowdog giftable packaging.

Neviti’s bestselling Shimmering Snowflake collection will see some new additions for Christmas 2014 due to its continued success. This elegant range has been popular for Christmas and New Year celebrations and even winter weddings offering some beautiful table accessories including bauble place card holders, napkin rings and stunning place cards for glass. The new glitzy additions will include a paper plate, cup, treat tub and napkin making the range even more versatile, perfect for festive buffets and celebrations with the convenience of being disposable.

The new additions are due to launch in the next couple of months and will feature the classic white and silver colour scheme with the stunning snowflake design.

Sexy but suitable Leg Avenue 0031 24 2403444 www.legavenueeurope.com Leg Avenue offers new Christmas costumes of high quality and with fine detailing. These Christmas costumes are sexy, fun to party in but also very suitable to wear during Christmas dinners with family and friends.

It’s something different than unwrapping gifts in a fancy dress. It’s fun, flirty and playful.

The collection will contain a skater dress with long sleeves made of a Christmas red velvet material. It looks very sophisticated. Besides a dress Leg Avenue offers a catsuit. Catsuits are a major trend in costumes, they are sexy and comfortable to wear. The Christmas catsuit has long sleeves and is also made of a velvet Christmas red material.

Both costumes look very traditional but have a true Leg Avenue feminine and sexy touch. This catsuit is unique but still looks traditional with Leg Avenue’s feminine and sexy touch.

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Feature Christmas and NYE

Secret Santa!

Opposuits 01592 657120 www.opposuits.com This Christmas, watch out for Rudolph, the subtle Christmas OppoSuit, and also returning by customer demand is Christmaster, the “in your face” Christmas OppoSuit and there will be a “Secret Santa” OppoSuit.

Not sharing all the details at the moment as you never know who is listening!! For New Year, Starring is the OppoSuit of choice and Mr Lover Lover for those who are starting off the year with a Big Announcement. With an OppoSuit for every occasion you will be the best dressed party goer over the Festive period.

Celebratory season of Christmas

Snowflakes & Sparkles

North Star

Qualatex

01538 382998

0800 281215

www.northstarsballoons.eu

www.qualatex.com

Northstar Balloons is offering a focused range for the important celebratory season of Christmas and New Year with classic designs is both 18” and Shapes including a Gingerbread House and Happy New Year Banner.

The company’s industry leading range of Numbers and Letters in both 34” and Air Filled 16” formats are certainly “must have” items to enhance any Christmas or New year theme whether as consumer items or for Decorator/POS use, literally spelling out the classic Christmas and New Year messages in Silver, Gold, Black or Red. One key Northstar “Christmas” item which is currently selling extremely well - even in mid summer!

- is a Star Shaped Snowflake design which just happens to relate to a very popular cartoon film which is very much the surprise cinematic and merchandising hit of 2014!

Add some sparkle to your holiday designs with Holographic Microfoil balloons that will dazzle your customers, such as this 22” Dazzling Snowflake that makes a great addition to the Qualatex Snowflakes collection for Christmas and Frozen themed parties. Other balloons in this collection include 18” Diamond Microfoil balloons, 11” and 3ft printed latex balloons.

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Christmas and NYE Feature

Glasses, Shepherds and Santas Palmer Agencies 02890 647119 www.palmeragencies.com New from Palmer include a range of novelty glasses and the shepherd costumes alongside the company’s successful Jesus and Mary costumes.

The Shepherd costume comprises of a hooded robe with an attached kaftan and a belt, and one size fits most. Starting at £8.96 Palmer have been inundated with requests for their novelty glasses. From a very small investment with a very high return it’s no shock they are selling out. Ranging from the cheapest at 59p which are then sold £1.99, the potential to treble you money is great for a retailer. Available in a range of five, including Santa and Rudolph.

Also available is a festive range of high end plush costume in packed a beautiful presentation Christmas boxes, and also a range of continental styles of Santa costumes which prove very successful in the market when it comes to Santa grottos.

Jolly Old Saint Nick 0800 281215 www.qualatex.com Boost your Christmas design and profits with this Jolly Santa character created with the new “Jolly Old Saint Nick” Microfoil.

Use the design in your store or window display to catch customers’ attention and sell more winter balloons. It’s also great for party decor and other winter celebrations. Find instructions for this “Jolly Santa” in the Christmas Business Booster on qualatex.com

Tis The Season To Be Jolly Unique Party 01724 2811113 www.uniqueparty.co.uk Snowman Buddies and Unique Party’s new seasonal ensembles will really help you get into the spirit of this festive season. Snowman buddies is bright, fun and appealing to all ages.

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Feature Costumes

Dress it up Editor Caroline Eyles takes a look at the latest launches within the costumes sector of the party industry

I

t seems with the Summer here a number of costumes that are popular are ones that are suitable for festivals.

The summer seasons sees Glastonbury, the O2 wireless, the Isle of Wight and V take to England’s fields, and that’s before we start thinking of more local events such as Berkofest in our local area. These days out in the sunshine provide the perfect occasion for people to dress up since it’s all part of the atmosphere in letting your hair down.

Tom Barber-Fleming at Morphsuits comments: “Festivals and fancy dress go hand in hand and Morph Costumes, famous for making you the king of the party, has designed a range of costumes perfect for festival fanatics everywhere, including innovative group costumes and wearable tech enhanced costumes, guaranteed to make festival troopers the talk of the field.”

With a more hardcore experience of festivals taking place across the waters, Trudy Pijnacker at Leg Avenue Europe says that raves too are a popular choice of occasion for frequenters to dress up.

“Leg Avenue offers rave and club wear perfect for summer festivals,” says Trudy, “all rave wear can be mixed and matched to create

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a personal look. All rave wear keeps an eye on the trends colour block and electric, the two trends that are very common within the rave scene. The outfits can also be combined with bright and colourful leg warmers, monster hats and tights of high quality.”

But it’s not just Summer that takes advantage of the festival spirit, with Amscan seeing a trend in Oktoberfest becoming a more popular event, resulting in a rise in both costumes and decorations.

Jim Young, Marketing Manager at Amscan International comments: “Oktoberfest has grown year on year outside of Germany, especially in the UK. Our new party range consists of many items developed in Germany so really are the genuine article. We also have plenty of tableware, decorations and dress up too, with the Lederhosen and Dirndl being hotly tipped as a best seller for this event and throughout the year. All you’ll need to add are guests and refreshments!”

Extending beyond the festivals and music events, there are plenty of other fun costumes that support a number of different occasions being launched. Trudy Pikjnacker at Leg Avenue comments: “We have plenty of outfits to wear, from the referee costume during soccer events and but also nurse costumes for the right occasion. We are also in support of the gay parade with which we have a fun, colourful rainbow dress with fringe called rainbow flabber.”

Licensed costumes within the fancy dress sector of the party industry is one of the strongest, with Frozen’s Snow Queen Elsa being one of the biggest sellers of all time this past year. With the dress selling out each time it comes in, parents are in a fury attempting to get ahold of this most sought after costume for little girls.

According to www.walesonline. co.uk, local businesswoman Emma Marsden has been running Mascot Parties for four years and has seen the movie’s success played out through the prism of her own business.

“Before Frozen came out all the little girls wanted Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel parties. Since Frozen all those princesses have been wiped out, nobody asks for them anymore.

“We’ve had to get more Frozen costumes in,” she adds. “They’re custom made from China and we’ve had to wait for them to be shipped over.”

Independent Retailer Ruth Goodman of Fancy Dress Bash based in Leeds adds: “The most popular party products I sell at the moment are most definitely the Disney Frozen costumes!”

So there you have it, with festival regalia proving a popular hit for adults and Frozen for kids, we know what we need to look out for from now on.

Feature Costumes

Dressing for the tropics

Animal play

Sancto International 01702 447676

Bristol Novelty

www.sanctointernational.co.uk.

0117 9724012

At Sancto International, the UK Official Distributor Widmann Srl, the summer season is set to be a scorcher! Summer sees an increase in sales for all things Hawaiian and Tropical.

Shirts, sarongs and Hawaiian dresses are as popular as ever, especially when teamed up with something from the extensive great range of Grass skirts, Hawaiian leis, Jewellery and Wigs.

Sancto have summer decorations and novelties galore, including inflatables, wall plaques and garlands, all of which can be found in the seasonal catalogue.

If you’re already thinking ahead to Halloween be sure to take a look at the dedicated halloween catalogue, which is jampacked with everything you need to make Halloween Spooktacular.

Set out in 23 easy to navigate categories finding what you need couldn’t be simpler. From Witches and Monsters to Zombies and Devils, the fantastic variety of costumes has something to please everyone small and large, young and old.

Super pow from Palmer Palmer Agencies 02890 647119 www.palmeragencies. com Palmer Agencies have created a range of four gnomes that have been very popular, starting at £8.96, with three more outfits added to the collection, with now in total seven gnomes.

They are all colourful with point hats in greens and yellows and blues. They look very cool and ideal for stag dos mainly.

Comic book cutie, inspired from the old comic books with big pows, wows and bangs! I comes with a dress and a cape, and a matching headband and starts at £13. Comes in two sizes, med and large.

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www.bristolnovelty. co.uk Bristol Novelty have matched adult animal costumes with identical children’s versions.

There are now new dinosaur, ordinary or step-in horse, stepin camel costumes in both age ranges, together with a new adult Squirrel with Big Head or a child’s Dolphin costume.

All cute, cuddly and available now. Pricing has been structured to make it easier to purchase smaller quantities for the best price.

Bristol Novelty Grows In Size!

Bristol Novelty 0117 9724012 www.bristolnovelty.co.uk Size is everything and Bristol Novelty, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of Children’s costumes has certainly been busy introducing a new range of XL children’s costumes. Our customers who took part in the feedback survey in December were very vocal about the lack of bigger children’s sizes from their suppliers. So Bristol Novelty has introduced 40 XL children costumes across its range, catering for the taller and bigger Child. Hopefully this will maintain Bristol’s already excellent reputation in Children’s Costumes market in the future.

Costumes Feature

Military Men! Leg Avenue 0031 242403444 www.legavenueeurope.com Leg Avenue is adding ten new men costumes to their current collection. The Military General Costume had perfect detailing and created a luxury look. As almost every other men costumes the Military General costumes can be matched to a women costume. All costumes are unique and have amazing detailing, everything attached to the costumes is right and completes the look.

Another outstanding costume is the Historic Queens Guard costume it suits the Game of Thrones hype and the costume is an unique design and the costumes has amazing detailing like the armour details attached to the costume. New catalogues are available and all new costumes will be available from August.

Also - did you know that Leg Avenue has a beautiful child collection for every age, from one year old till an adolescent? Let the kids dress up for a party or just to play in their own world of imagination.

The new 2014 costumes and accessories are cooler than before. Leg Avenue knows that, when children grow up, they want to feel and look older than that they are really are. With the new collection every boy or girl will be able to impress their friends.

Morphing Around Morphsuits 0330 0882510 www.morphsuits.co.uk To make a bold statement, original Morphsuits are the way to go to splash the crowd with colour - these suits provide an instant selfie-hotspot in a rainbow of colours including: Red, Yellow, Blue, Turquoise, Green, Orange, Purple, Pink, Maroon, Gold, Silver, White and Black, and for a dose of retro hippy fun – the Tie Dye Morphsuit. When the sun sets and the party really kicks off, the range of UV glow in the dark Morphsuits in: Orange, Green and Pink are definitely the way to go to party under the moonlight.

To really step away from the crowd, innovative digital costumes that incorporate wearable smartphone technology are also on offer become a human-sized retro Boom Box, an MP3 player where you can select your own favourite tunes, or the pièce de résistance -the Mystic Fate Ball that allows you to predict your friends fortunes.

Party Ponchos Smiffys 0800 590599 www.smiffys.com Festival season is well and truly upon us, and Smiffy’s have created the perfect outdoor party essential.

Festivalgoers, the fashion conscious, party animals, campers, and all outdoor enthusiasts will love Smiffys Party Ponchos. Available in ten cool designs including a Giraffe, Tiger and Zebra, the brand new ponchos are fun, stylish and above all, practical!

The Party Ponchos feature a fun detailed hood with drawstring, a large front pocket, a long back hem perfect for sitting on, and most importantly they’re showerproof! Definitely the must have item of the year, these are guaranteed to go down a storm with consumers.

Plus if you order 48 or more pieces, Smiffy’s will send you a sales display unit to perfectly merchandise the ponchos.

Contact your Customer Services Advisor today to find out more.

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Feature Costumes

Stand Out Suits Smiffys 0800 590599

Amscan

www.smiffys.com

01908 288500

Inspired by the success of their original Union Jack and Santa designs, Smiffys have created a whole new collection of outrageous styles.

Designed by Smiffy’s in the UK, this attentionseeking collection is perfect for those who love to stand-out from the crowd. Stand Out suits come in twelve eccentric designs; including the Comic Strip, Sky High and Aloha! Suit, and seeing really is believing!

These party suits with fabulously fitted jacket and trousers in high quality fabric, complete with matching tie, are the ultimate in party fashion. Available to order in M, L and XL sizes at exceptional value!

Give the gift of Fever Smiffys 0800 590599 www.smiffys.com If you don’t already stock Smiffys’ hugely popular Fever line of lingerie and accessories, then the festive period is the perfect time to start! Those looking to give their loved one a suggestive yet sophisticated gift this Christmas will love the Fever range.

From cheeky burlesque panties to the risqué collection of body stockings, there’s something steamy for every imagination and budget.

And why not draw even more attention to the enticing collection with a Fever Display Unit? To transform your retail space and receive your Fever brochure today, contact your Smiffy’s Customer Service Advisor today.

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From children to adult www.amscan.co.uk Over the past 60 years Amscan have been delivering products establishing them to be one of the UK’s leading companies in the industry. They distribute everything needed for parties, including fancy dress outfits and dress up accessories. Over recent years Germany’s Oktoberfest has become very popular in the UK and Amscan have now launched their Oktoberfest fancy dress collection, dedicated in offering the latest trends. The festival lasts for 16 days and runs from late September to the first weekend in October. It was originally started in Munich and is attended by more than six million people around the world. Beer festivals are not new to Britain, in fact we’ve been celebrating them since medieval times. But now with this growing trend and easy access to German produce, there is now the opportunity to add a splash of blue and white, and of course Lederhosen.

The outfits can be seen online at Amscan’s dedicated new costume website that has recently been launched; which improves the performance of viewing outfits all with a next day delivery service. From children’s characters to adult trends, everyday dress up to the themed collection outfits, Amscan are sure to have every garment including variety of licensed characters such as Barbie. With all ranges designed in house and building on the success of last year, they have now extended their range and added new collections.

Costumes Feature

Specifically Tween InCharacter 0845 180 6545 www.angelsdistribution.co.uk InCharacter is a particularly good choice for children and teens, with the company even offering costumes specifically for tweens, designed for the 11 - 12 year olds and early teen market. Costumes such as Honey Bee. Monster Gurl and Swashbucklin’ Sass are stylish, cool, and definitely not childish, but are age-appropriate and covered up enough to keep parents happy. With leggings, hats, wings and leg warmers, the tween range comes fully accessorised!

For a long time there wasn’t much in between the sexier costumes aimed at adults, and babyish children’s costumes, and it’s great that girls finally have this option available to them.

Similarly, InCharacter offers a fantastic collection of baby and toddler costumes, all possessing CE marks and finished to an excellent standard. With non-slip grips on the feet, and poppers to allow for easy nappy access, costumes such as Loveable Lion, Precious Pixie and Dinky Dino are something completely new in the UK market, allowing children of all ages a real choice in terms of fancy dress costumes.

InCharacter also has a fantastic range of adult costumes that are high quality but well priced. Popular costumes include Cleopatra, Noble Knight, Maid Marian and Bavarian Guy, and are also available in plus-sizes.

Wide ranging Wilbers 01592 657123 www.wilberskarnaval.com Wilbers continue to grow their presence in the UK with their wide ranging collections. The UK now has its own catalogue and customers can gain access to the trade website on request. With Wilbers new release calendar skewed towards the Carnival season in Europe it means that there are lots of new products available to the UK market over the Christmas and New Year period. From Santas to Sinners there is something to fit everyone properly.

Wilbers don’t do “One Size Fits All”.

With up to nine sizes for ladies on selected costumes, your customer will be “Belle of the Ball”.

Original humour Rasta Imposta 0845 180 6545 www.angelsdistribution.co.uk Rasta Imposta has been providing innovative, original products to the fancy dress market for 20 years. The originality and humorous edge that characterises Rasta Imposta products is what sets the company apart, and with a vast range of high quality novelty costumes and accessories available for immediate delivery from its UK warehouse, it is a range that cannot be beaten. For quality, tongue-in-cheek originality, and superb customer service please contact us directly.

Licensed costumes include Ted, available in Tunic, Jumpsuit and Hat, and the ever-popular Crayola range that is available in sizes ranging from ages 3 to adult in a selection of styles including dresses, accessories and full costumes.

www.partypartymag.co.uk

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028 9064 7119

sales@palmeragencies.com

028 9064 5655 palmeragencies.com @palmeragencies

Feature Latex Balloons

Inflating Sales Party Party find out more about the latest in latex balloons

T

ime has far moved on from the day of the dried animal’s bladder once used before the latex balloon was brought about in 1824.

So nearly two centuries later, due to the low cost of manufacturing, and thus the low cost in store, balloons have stood the test of time and continue to remain a popular choice within the party industry when it comes to choosing party products that help to celebrate the occasion.

From entertainers through to professional displays through to a child’s birthday party, a latex balloon caters for every occasion, probably explaining its continued popularity, since its never out of place. From a child walking down the street through to New Year’s Eve or even a business launch, the rubber latex phenomenon has continued for many decades.

Anton Schygiol, Product Director for Balloons at Amscan International says: “Latex balloons are a ‘must have’ for any party or celebration. They are so versatile and can be used in a variety of ways, let’s not forget how easy it is to create sculptures or inspiring and fun decorations to add a final touch to any party.”

So as far as products go, there are not many that are simpler or a better to retail than a balloon. The margins are decent, suppliers are plentiful and there is, in comparison to some products, very little labour involved. And while the product largely stays the same, since let’s face it, other than air there isn’t a huge amount of expansion that can

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be created, but yet still, with the help of small new innovations and developments in both design and prints, it keeps what would seem a simple rubber device maintaining its popularity.

Anna Bubnova, marketing communications manager at Pioneer Europe Ltd speaks a year on following the launch of their new Quick Links latex balloons last July: “We continue to see new and innovative ways that decorators are using these balloons for, both alone and with existing Qualatex products. The sales have also exceeded our expectations thus far.”

In fact, explaining the growth and development of latex balloons Wayne Roberts, Vice President, Account Marketing, Pioneer Balloon told www.balloonhq.com: “Long before there were any companies who did balloon deliveries, long before anyone thought of arches, balloon weddings, balloon decor, etc. Qualatex was a leader in the sale of advertising balloons.

“Imprinted business and event balloons were the start and life blood of Pioneer and it’s brand Qualatex. Pioneer has sold its products through different distribution channels for many years. The main thrust of Pioneer’s early years (since 1918) was the consumer retail and novelty markets.

“It was not until the early 1980’s that Pioneer began to develop the professional decorator market.

Sales of custom printed balloons through the promotional product industry represent a significant percentage of Pioneer’s business,

and continue to grow.”

But that’s not all that’s available to you as a retailer, there are a number of companies wanting to help you promote your sales through displays and professional balloon artwork in store. For example our very own balloon columinst Sue Bowler offers you a recipe each month in the hope you will adopt in store to help promote an event or range.

Furthermore, companies like Nabas, the Balloon Association offer retailers training to be able to extend their knowledge and experience within the balloon sector which they can then share with consumers. So while the product may be a simple yet effective seller, there is a vast community on your doorstep ready to help you inflate your sales as much as your possibly can!

Feature Latex Balloons

Endless variety Amscan 01908 288500 www.amscan.co.uk Amscan’s balloon collection is industry leading with an endless amount of varieties, shapes, colours and licensed characters. There are such fantastic designs and innovative ideas to add the finishing touches to a customer’s special occasion.

Amscan have a huge range of latex balloons that includes punch balls, animal shaped, heart shaped, caterpillar shaped, solid colours, birthday numbered, ones that link to make a garland, and even water bomb balloons! There are also printed latex balloons for occasions such as; engagements, anniversaries, birthdays, births, retirements, and character printed latex balloons too.

When decorating for events, balloons are a must! Balloons are the final feature to completing the perfect party scene, so make sure they’re available to purchase in store. Amscan Latex balloons can be filled with helium or air and are completely biodegradable, made from 100% natural latex.

Designed to match Creative Party 01202 590222 www.creativeparty.co.uk Creative Party launched brand new designs for 2014, including a first for the company in all-round print designs; they have been a great success.

It’s great to have a point of difference and the benefit of stocking Creative Party latex balloons is that they are designed to match party ensembles, which encourages link sales! Creative Party recommend that customers who stock party ensembles always carry the matching latex balloon to encourage upselling and impulse purchases increasing the consumers spend on that ensemble in your stores. Firm favourites are Sweet Treats, all round print cupcake design as well as Polka Dot in brights mix and pink mix. What’s more is that there is a new lower price for 2014 on all Creative Party latex balloons making this range a sure fire winner.

Playing with polka Unique Party 01724 281113 www.uniqueparty.co.uk You cannot have a party without Polka Dot latex balloons, which are very on trend this season. A selection of co-ordinating items are also available as well as Small and large helium cylinders to inflate.

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Feature Latex Balloons

Neck up or neck down?

Talking Balloons 01246 270555 www.talkingballoons.com Talking Balloons has an extensive range of air-fill and helium suitable latex products, incorporating printed (single and multiple sided) and solid colours. It has a wide range of sizes and colours to cover all major events and occasions. These are complimented by a wide range of balloon weights, curling ribbon, foil balloons, napkins, tablecovers and much more.

Talking Balloons competitive pricing ensures exceptional value for retail, trade and wholesale customers and consumers alike, while its products still retain exceptional quality for more specialist use.

Launched earlier this year, the choice of neck up or neck down message latex balloons, with more colour combinations

available. The range now comprises of 73 different designs with the choice of colours, sizes and neck orientation available.

Talking Balloons is seeing increasing consumer trends towards ‘DIY event decoration and home celebrations’, with consumers becoming increasingly confident to decorate their own venues.

Thus resulting in significant growth of solid colour and message latex with associated accessories (such as disposable helium, balloon weights and ribbon).

First Year Of Quick Links Qualatex 0800 28 12 15 www.qualatex.com On July 22, 2013, Pioneer Balloon Company introduced new Qualatex Quick Link Balloons to the professional balloon market.

With a revolutionary design ensuring a uniform shape no matter which ends are tied together, Quick Links became an immediate hit. The versatility of this easy-to-use product makes it ideal for creating large-scale balloon walls, tunnels, arches, 3-D sculptures, and other air-filled decor pieces.

In the year since their launch, Quick Links have been

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incorporated into numerous educational events and seminars hosted by Pioneer, including the World Balloon Convention and the recent Quick Links Road Show in Europe. Design contests have also encouraged artists to share their Quick Link creations.

Positive reaction from decorators includes satisfaction with the consistent shape and sizing, the ability to tie either end together for quicker construction, and the overall quality.

Quick Links are available in 6” and 12” solid colors, as well as zebra stripe and polka dot prints.

Quick Fire

Round

Quick Fire Round with…

Sandra Vanstan, Director of Licensing - EMEA, Amscan International Bambi

Most frequented restaurant?

Present idol?

Red Kite, Wakefield

Bambi!

Favourite team?

Favourite band?

Rend Collective

AFC Dons (I know, I am not popular with my family working in MK!)

Best beverage?

Most watched film?

WINE – red, white, rose, sparkly – love all of them (but not in the same glass!)

Breakfast Club (sorry, showing my age now….!)

Childhood idol?

Favourite food?

Curry Favourite curry?

Chana Saag

What occupies most of your spare time?

Eating and drinking – mainly with friends and family

Last fancy dress costume you wore?

Rocky Horror – and the funniest part was my outfit actually clashed with the burly bloke in charge of the BBQ! Motto?

Life is a gift, and we are only here for a short while

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Regular Talking with an Angel

The festive season is not so far away Party Party columnist Emma Angels tells us why retailers should start preparing for Christmas now

A

s Halloween fades into November, Christmas decorations will start creeping up in the shops, bright lights will start to illuminate the streets and shop windows, and the retail frenzy that is the festive season will begin. It’s tempting to think that Christmas is ages away, and a dim competitor to Halloween, but as our second-busiest season of the year, the sheer number of parties, events and social occasions has prompted an almost unprecedented demand for costumes.

It is significant that the demand for festive fancy dress is a trend that has grown steadily year on year: at Angels we saw a 43% increase in sales on Christmas-themed costumes in 2013 when compared to 2012. Fancy dress shops should take note: the British public’s appetite for fancy dress is seemingly insatiable, and we should expect to start seeing the same creativity and humour that has come to define our approach to Halloween extending into the Christmas season.

With everything from office parties and family gatherings, to school plays and themed formal events, it pays to be prepared. While the traditional Father Christmases and Santa Claus outfits are perennially popular at this time of year, the possibilities are endless – and when planning stock for the festive season, it’s always worth considering the different types of people who will be looking for costumes in order to be prepared.

First, we have the office party: wearers of silly hats, over the top accessories, and, for the more adventurous, the group costumes.

A recognisable theme bonds teams together, and fuelled by champagne and eggnog, even the most serious of

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While the traditional Father Christmases and Santa Claus outfits are perennially popular at this time of year, the possibilities are endless – and when planning stock for the festive season, it’s always worth considering the different types of people who will be looking for costumes in order to be prepared

”

Emma Angel is Director of Angels, the world’s largest and longest-established costume house. Emma has over 20 years experience in Fancy Dress and Angels has two stores, fancy dress website – www. fancydress.com and is the UK distributor of Rasta Imposta, InCharacter and Tinsley Transfers. Emma is the sixth generation of the family to work for the Oscar-winning company and is the first female member to take on a directorial role at Angels.

executives can be coaxed into wearing a foam Christmas pudding on their head – not to mention the group who turn up as penguins, snowmen or reindeer (having squabbled for 20 minutes about who was going to be Rudolph). Whilst the majority of office party-goers are likely to opt for more subtle accessories, it is worth remembering that these group costumes are likely to popular with students too. Team socials and end of term parties are likely to bring out the more adventurous side of customers, and generally speaking, the more funny and risqué a costume is, the more popular it will be in this context.

We have noticed a surge in novelty costumes, and at a time of year when spirits are high and there is always something to celebrate, this is a pattern that we expect to continue. Similarly, the propensity for puns, word play and the tongue-in-cheek lends itself to the Christmas spirit: the possibilities even within The Twelve Days of Christmas are enormous, from leaping lords, milking maids, geese-a-laying, and the star of the show – the partridge (with or without his pear tree).

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the popularity of Masquerade balls is notable at this time of year, as event organisers want to have a theme but are keen to stick to a formal dress code. Some carefully chosen masks in classic colours and striking designs are sure to be popular (especially at New Year), and will complement customers’ black tie eveningwear. The fact that any leftover stock will remain current and in season all year round is also an added bonus.

There, is, of course, also a place for the traditional at Christmas – particularly with the children’s market. I’m sure we are all familiar with the harried and stressed mums, who (often with just a

few days notice from their children, if they’re lucky!) are expected to produce elaborate costumes for Mary, Joseph, Angels, Kings, donkeys and more.

Thinking along these lines, it is always worth stocking a few of the more traditional characters for a nativity play, but it must be noted that many schools do not follow this pattern, often putting on less conventional productions. As such, there is no harm in finding out the plans of local schools in order to be aware of what parents might come in asking for: aside from being practical, this is a great way to build up relationships with local teachers and parents ahead of other key events throughout the year, such as Book Week.

Another tradition that is somewhat ingrained within our national psyche is the Christmas pantomime: at no other time of year is there such demand for a two-man horse! From the Ugly Sisters and garish Dames, to Prince Charming and Fairy Godmothers, people are inspired by the traditional at Christmas, and whether this is by easily identifiable pantomime characters, or classic films that are always shown at this time of year on TV, there is a definite pattern in customer behaviour. It is arguably no coincidence that so many Christmas parties have a plethora of themes and attendees decked out as characters from Grease, The Sound of Music, Home Alone, ET and Back to the Future – not mention It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

While it can be daunting thinking about Christmas so early in the year, with other retail sectors preparing so far in advance, we must as an industry accept the reality that it is now almost as significant as Halloween in terms of consumer demand, and act accordingly.

Plus, after all that blood and gore, who wouldn’t welcome some festive sparkle and cheer?

PARTY NEEDS YOU!

On Line-On Street INFO In 1977, Mark began working for the family business, manufacturing and marketing Fantasia latex balloon within the UK and the rest of the world up until 2008 when he set up shop on his own and created the Fantasia brand. Since 2011 Mark and his wife are the sole UK agents for Boland Party, a Dutch company who are one of Europe’s largest party distributors of party and dress up. And that’s not all, Mark has been a Director of HITF Ltd since 1996, and in 2002, he was the founder member of European Balloon and Party Council, holding post as chairman from 2002-2012. So with nearly 40 years experience within the trade, Mark is clearly qualified to dare ask the questions we all want to know the answers to. To get in touch with Mark and pose your views, opinions or questions, please forward your emailed to caroline@lemapublishing.co.uk

W

inston Churchill once said ‘…..if the internet had been invented, our entire amassed resources would not have repelled its invasion….’

Poppycock, he never said anything remotely like it! However, hopefully it illustrates the point that online operators are here to stay and for both independent party retailers and a party online reseller to survive, there needs to be a more harmonious approach for both channels to grow and develop the market together.

In the last article we briefly touched upon the benefits of the party retailer against those of the online operator. Whatever you may think of them, online operators are here to stay and they have helped the market to grow and develop. But let’s examine the major benefits of the online operator to the party consumer.

For a start, geographical reach - how many party shops are there in Lands’ End or Warbleswick? The answer is none. The same question could be asked of literally thousands of small towns and villages all over the UK. The consequence is that a consumer may have a round trip of many miles to come across a suitable outlet.

When this is an infrequent purchase of a not particularly high value, it simply won’t happen! But with internet access, it becomes a very easy exercise.

In contrast to the majority of party outlets that are generally very small and can only offer a limited range of product, an online operator can offer a limitless range should they want to. A good internet operator will be operating from a warehouse where they will be holding reasonable stocks of individual items. On a good site the stock figure will be shown which then allows the potential for a large purchase. For example, if someone wants sixty chicken hats for a big local sporting event, it is unlikely that a retail shop would carry that sort of stock.

The web site shows there sixty available and a successful sale is made.

But there are major drawbacks of an internet operator. The impersonal nature speaks for itself (or rather doesn’t!) and it is reliant on the logistical operation – bad weather, IT problems, warehouse problems.

Their main benefit is also their main flaw.

However, contrary to popular belief. The cost of operation for the good internet

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operator is high. Yes, they may be able to operate from the wilds of Dartmoor from a half million square foot warehouse at £2.00 per square foot. But then how many actually operate in such a location?

If you look at the big operators their units are generally in logistically efficient areas, not low cost per se. The companies also need availability of a multi-skilled work force including an increasing demand for language skills as their markets reach overseas. The cost of product return is higher and more frequent and to maintain their position in the market, there are huge ongoing IT costs. Plus, if the company is present on Amazon or EBay there are commissions to be paid.

Further drawbacks for an online retailer includes browsing fatigue. This maybe a personal observation but there is a lot of subjective evidence to suggest that the average consumer gets very easily bored once they have found their product and it is very tough to increase the basket total with techniques like …the customer who bought this bought this as well…it is a struggle to get more than one or two additional products within the basket.

And so, in opposition, benefits of the On Street Retailer include the ability to understand, work with and develop local needs and relationships. There is the opportunity for personal attention and the opportunity to increase the total sale with the consumer. The consumer can actually see and feel the product. They also know the product is physically there on the shelf and they are also less likely to return the product and if they do handling a return is a more cost effective operation.

The shop name and the brand is there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It takes time and effort to develop but the value of this against an internet operator is in calculable.

No matter how big or high profile the website, the cost to the internet retailer in keeping their brand at the forefront is very high and it is a ‘constant cost’.

So what’s the future? Not being a retail analyst, financial crystal ball or tea leaf reader, there isn’t one answer. However, the current situation indicates ‘online on street’. We only have to look at what is happening out there in other markets.

There is increasing awareness amongst the big online operators of working with retail

outlets. 90 per cent of Argos web orders are collected from in store. John Lewis website is very successful because you are able to collect your order from Waitrose.

A number of the big fashion chains have screens in store where you can order on line, in store. The benefits for the consumer are numerous, they can see and try the product, their size may not be in store, they don’t have to queue, and they don’t have to carry big shopping bags home. All these potential benefits would apply to the independent party retail outlet.

What are the choices? Personal opinion says two. The retailer develops a site that not only provides an online portal to a much wider audience but also enhances the bricks and mortar shop so that they work in tandem. Consumer confidence is much enhanced when they know a website actually has an on street outlet and the product is not being shipped from someone’s spare room. The reverse is already happening. A number of smaller online operators have opened retail outlets within or near their existing operation and been very pleased and surprised with the results. This is especially true in the Halloween season when the majority of purchases in the last 3-4 days are made within a store.

The second, is perhaps more contentious; simple in description, but complicated in application. The independent sector teams up with a major, or more than one, online operator. They would then operate a click and collect system. The key benefit to the website would be the click and collect facility plus a virtual on street presence. The benefits to the retailer would be access to a far larger range and depth of stock and the opportunity to make additional sales when the consumer collects.

The later suggestion, needs a meeting of minds. It would not suit everyone but needs to be seriously considered as the danger is that a major online retailer will go their own way in conjunction with a major ‘on street’ retailer. Personal belief is that the online operator would be better served working with the independent party retailer but it needs the independents to start talking to each other.

There is a third way….Do nothing …….

At the time of writing www.partyonlineonstreet.co.uk was still available. Just a thought….

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THE WORD from

Happy Halloween Bapia’s John Bowler talks about the effects of Halloween falling on a Friday and how you can cash in

A

s we approach what is for many retailers, the busiest times of the year, I wonder if we are looking at a bumper crop of Halloween sales with the 31st October falling on a Friday?

This not only brings a boost to Halloween sales for that particular weekend as more and more individuals, clubs, pubs and venues get into the spooky mood, but with much thanks to a certain Mr Fawkes, it gives us in the UK a second crack of the whip as it also puts bonfire night much closer to the following weekend which gives the youngsters (and the not so young) another opportunity to dress up and get scary!!!

It seems that ‘scary’ really is the way to go as well!! While many will tell you that it is the manufacturers who determine the current trends, I think where Halloween is concerned that is not necessarily the case.

The UK is demanding more and more scary and realistic products enabling us all to immerse ourselves into the whole Halloween experience and we are slowly but surely catching our American cousins in the Halloween celebration stakes.

When I was young we used to play games at Halloween which seemed to mostly involved trying to take a bite out of an apple, whether it was hung from a piece of string or floating in a bowl of water or pressed into a bowl of flour (apologies to the youngsters among you who have no idea what I am talking about!).

Now the trend tends more towards who can scare the bejeezus out of their friends and this year we could see the biggest and best year yet. When we start out in business we probably don’t contemplate the importance of a

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specific date falling on a specific day of the week, but as we understand the trends and needs of our customers we find ourselves looking at our diaries and calendars in order to establish how good a season we can anticipate, and how much we should invest in a particular occasion.

Talking of Seasons, I attended the recent opening of the new Amscan showroom at Milton Keynes which is a most impressive place with displays of products covering all of the seasons and every occasion, and I know that Christopher Horne is creating different seasonal displays to show off the product range.

I was fortunate enough to see the transition from empty warehouse to fully stocked showroom and it brought home to me what a difference it makes to actually see the physical products in the flesh. While catalogues, both hard copy and online, are a great resource for purchasing there is nothing quite like a visit to your local distributor or attending a trade show so that you can get a little more up close and personal with the products available.

I recently saw a balloon in the Qualatex catalogue and I thought it was a great design but it wasn’t until I saw the actual balloon that I could really see the scale of it and it was only then that I could see what a really great design it was!

I wouldn’t mind betting that if you take a trip to your distributor you will find something that you hadn’t realised was available or

“

you will be inspired by a new product so that you can plan ahead for your seasonal purchasing.

While we are on the subject of planning ahead, here at BAPIA even though it is only July we have been looking forward to the Christmas season and we have been working on a couple of projects for the coming festive season.

We have just launched our first Christmas Card competition to design the front of the 2014 BAPIA Christmas Card and we have also just released details of this years Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, Christmas Party class where we are hoping to have a larger involvement with the inclusion this year of not only the balloon décor but also face-painters, candy carts and some genuine character appearances.

Last year’s event was such a huge success and we want to continue to build on that success and really bring some smiles to the faces of some amazing youngsters.

Just before I sign off I thought I’d let you know that we have just published our latest newsletter so if you haven’t received a copy but would like one or you would like more information on BAPIA and how it can benefit you please contact me at info@bapiaonline. com

as we understand the trends and needs of our customers we find ourselves looking at our diaries and calendars in order to establish how good a season we can anticipate, and how much we should invest in a particular occasion

”

INFO For more information on BAPIA and the benefits of membership go to www.bapiaonline.com or contact me on info@bapiaonline.com

Balloon Recipe

Clowning Around Sue Bowler CBA gives us her latest balloon recipe

1

2

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The Arms, Legs and Body are garlands. The Arms starting from the hand end, inflate 4 x 4-balloon clusters using 5” balloons inflated to 3” the 5th cluster is a 4-balloon cluster inflated to 3.5”, repeat for second arm. The Legs - Starting from the foot end, inflate 4 x 4-balloon clusters inflated to 3.5”, repeat for second leg. The Body - starting from the lower body- start by creating 1 x 5-balloon cluster inflated to 2.5”, next 1 x 5-balloon cluster inflated to 4”, next 1 x 5-balloon cluster inflated to 4.5”, next 1 x 5-balloon cluster inflated to 4”, next 1 x 5-balloon cluster inflated to 3.5” and finally 1 x 5-balloon cluster inflated to 3”.

I find it easier if I use Ð a 160Q to secure the 2 arms (garlands) together, but leave a stretchable amount of balloon between the arms so that you can slip the arms into place on the body.

Do the same with the legs, leaving just enough stretch on the 160Q to slip the leg garlands into position.

Too much stretch and they will be floppy, not enough stretch and they will not sit well!

The Head. Use a raisin inside the head to secure the hat, attach a small piece of 160Q for this purpose. Inflate the head to approx. 8” Apple Twist the 11” Polka Dot balloon to create the hat, secure a piece of 160Q

around the knot of the Apple Twist so that you can secure the hat to the clowns head.

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Inflate the 350Q so that it can wrap around the base of the hat for the rim, secure it in position using a pinch twist.

The Hands and the shoes are made using the same method. Fold a 160Q in half and position it inside an uninflated 5” balloon, partially inflate the 5” balloon and then carefully inflate the 160Q inside, it will curve around inside the 5”, when you have the desired size, tie the ends of the 160Q together, remove most of the remaining air from the 5”and then tie off the 5” balloon, repeat for the second hand and make sure that they are both the same size. The only difference with the feet is that I have used 11” for the shoe, with a 260Q inside to create the curve and I have also added in an inflated 5” balloon too, I added this last, it’s a little tricky but with practice, not so bad!

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Create 2 x 5-balloon clusters for the base 11” inflated approx. 8” and the 5” inflated to 4”. Add a weight into the base to keep the clown from moving around.

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Create 2 x 5-balloon clusters for the base 11” inflated approx. 8” and the 5” inflated to 4”. Add a weight into the base to keep the clown from moving around.

Sue Bowler writes ‘The Very Best Balloon Blog’, to see more great design recipes and balloon related articles please visit www.theverybestballoonblog.blogspot.com

Ingredients: 5

x 11” Yellow

5

x 5” Yellow

38 x 5” Robin’s Egg Blue 37 x 5” Purple Violet 29 x 5” Wild Berry 1

x 16” White

1

x 11” Polka Dot

3

x 350Q Robin’s Egg Blue

2

x 5” White

2

x 160Q White

2

x 260Q Robin’s Egg Blue

www.partypartymag.co.uk

51 21

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Celebrating

120 years of quality & innovation 2014 marks a real milestone in the history of R H Smith & Sons. Since 1894 we have built a reputation on delivering excellence for customers based on integrity, quality and innovation. As a family owned and managed business, family values are at the heart of everything we do.

the most innovative costumes in the industry alongside the most professional and aspirational imagery and SDFNDJLQJ :HĹ&#x2013;UH FRQÄąGHQW \RX ZRQĹ&#x2013;W ÄąQG D ELJJHU dress-up collection anywhere else.

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Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re leading the market in terms of quality and innovation, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just take our word for it; the 26 million items a year we ship worldwide to over 50 countries speaks volumes about our position in the market.

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a future as bright as our suits

Last year we launched our new look Fever brand, in this year we are undertaking g a similar program of rebrand for Smiffys to make sure the brand remains contemporary and relevant to the latest generation of party people.

Our continued investment in design and product development alongside our licensed portfolio demonstrates our commitment to leading the dress-up market.

Recent innovations from the professional quality heat resistant Fever Wig range to the outrageously smart Stand Out Suits and the wet and wild Party

Free Phone: 0800 590 599

Ponchos collections. What’s more we’ve lots of new and exciting costumes to exc b bring you over the next few months.

projects in the pipeline, get in touch with your Customer Service Advisor today for your next delivery of serious fun.

F Following helpful help p feedback from our customers we’ve just reformulated our 6PLij\V $TXD 0DNH Up FX range, which now promises better coverage and longer lasting wear.

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