PARTY NEWS
Party City Acquires MG Novelty US party and costume retailer Party City has acquired MG Novelty Corporation, which includes seven retail stores under the name ‘Party Galaxy’ in the Oklahoma City area. The leading retailer and party goods company bought the MG Novelty business – which reported total annual sales of approximately $9million in 2016 – for approximately $5.5million. MG Novelty was founded in 1937 as a decoration and carnival supply company and changed
Angels Open Day 2018 After making its successful debut last year, Angels Open Day will be returning for 2018. The series of open days will once again be held at Angels' iconic Hendon premises as the family devoted to fancy dress continues to meet the needs of an ever-developing industry. Taking place from 25 – 26 March, Angels will be opening its doors to specialist retail buyers, offering show-only deals alongside the fabulous opportunity to take a tour of the world-famous Angels Costumes which supplies costumes to the stars of film, TV and theatre. Visitors will be able to view new fancy dress lines from Rasta Imposta and InCharacter Costumes as well as special FX and make-up lines from Tinsley Transfers. Costume suppliers Leg Avenue, MorphCostumes, OppoSuits, Bristol Novelty, Palmer Agencies and Fun Shack will also be at the Open Days, taking advantage of the opportunity to showcase their new lines. "Last year's event was a great success, we met some lovely people and were able to showcase our Rasta Imposta, Tinsley Transfers and InCharacter ranges in an informal and friendly space,” says Emma Angel, director of Angels Fancy Dress, "We are really looking forward to hosting Angels Open Days again this year with even more suppliers, exciting developments and a tour of our famous costume warehouse. It is sure to be a great event which we would like to invite everyone to attend, we look forward to seeing you all there!" Attending the event is free. Simply register by emailing customer.services@ angels.uk.com or calling +44 (0) 20 8732 8879.
its name to Party Galaxy in 2001 before eventually expanding to 11 locations. It also had a five-year supply agreement with Party City’s parent company Amscan that gave it favourable pricing and trade terms, although this expired in 2012. “This immediately accretive acquisition provides us the opportunity to enter the new market of Oklahoma City as we continue to grow our retail square footage and expand our customer base,” said James Harrison, Party City’s chief executive officer.
BAPIA Dresses GOSH Christmas Party Members of the Balloon and Party Industry Alliance came together to give their time to decorate the venue for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Christmas parties as it organised the decorations for the Great Ormond Street Hospital children’s Christmas parties for the fifth year running.
The 30-strong team battled against the snowy elements to get to the venue on Saturday 11 December in order to create the outstanding decorations which would set the scene for the celebrations. John Bowler, BAPIA chairman, thanked the team, saying: “#GOSH2017 what a great day again! I must say a special thank you to all of those who entered the draw this year and to those who were lucky enough to be picked. Your support and enthusiasm is inspiring and without you it would not happen. Thank you all very much!” The event was further supported by Qualatex, Amscan, BOC and Premium Balloon Accessories. Left: décor designs were created by BAPIA members Chris Horne, Tatiana Kempinski, Sheena Timmins, Samuel Stamp-Dod and Sue Bowler.
Above left: Party City stores operate under the names Party City and Halloween City.
Rasta Imposta Tree Goes Viral The popular Christmas tree costume from Rasta Imposta has gone viral after an American student tweeted herself wearing it to college as part of a self-imposed dare. Kelsey Hall, who goes to the University of Alabama, sent out a joke tweet on 2 December, with a picture of herself in the festive costume saying that she'd wear it for the res of the school year if she got 1,000 retweets. Kelsey's tweet was far more popular than she anticipated and ended up with 35,000 retweets and 58,000 likes. As promised, she then wore the costume until the end of the semester and become a reluctant celebrity on campus with people taking their picture with her and sharing it online. The self-imposed costume challenge made international news, with interviews and features from the UK to Australia.
The Nuremberg Party Focus As the largest toy fair in the world, over 70,000 visitors will be heading to the Nuremberg Exhibition Center in Germany to check out some 2,800 exhibitors across 13+ product halls. Taking place 31 January to 4 February, the party, carnival and festive articles section of the show (Hall 9) is becoming more important each year – with 250 party and costume companies showcasing their latest lines for the coming year. This year, for the first time, the show will be taking place across five days instead of six. According to ceo of Spielwarenmese, Ernst Kick; “We are sending out a clear signal that is fully in tune with the needs of our customers, as we are aware of the pressures on both time and budgets.” For more information, see www.spielwarenmesse.de
Weddings To Get Royal Boost Everyone loves a good oldfashioned wedding, and royal weddings are even more popular than most, giving the whole country a good reason to celebrate.
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“With customers’ continued preference to shop this category instore, the acquisition of Party Galaxy is a very attractive use of
capital and allows us to leverage the Party City brand name, assortment, store experience as well as vertical model for the benefit of customers and shareholders,” he continued. Party City’s retail operations include over 900 specialty retail party supply stores (including approximately 150 franchise stores) throughout North America, as well as e-commerce websites such as PartyCity.com.
The retail-boosting effect is particularly welcome in the party industry, but what's even more interesting is the influence a significant wedding has on the popularity of marriage in general. Design-led tableware and décor company Neviti is predicting more weddings this year which
it believes should boost sales of wedding lines this year. “There was a dramatic increase in the number of weddings taking place between 2010 and 2012,” points out director Tracy Cooper, “thanks in part to William and Kate's wedding. We expect to see a similar boost later this year.”
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 PROGRESSIVE PARTY EUROPE
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