IN FOCUS WITH: THE PARTY PEOPLE
down under
Trick or treating started life in the US in the early 1900s and the holiday is a huge part of modern American culture to this day. While Hallows Eve is a massive celebration in the US, and a prominent part of UK culture, its popularity is also starting to spread to other countries, as Progressive Party Europe found out when chatting to Dean Salakas, chief party dude at Australia’s The Party People….
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hen Dean’s parents opened The Party People 35 years ago, Halloween was non-existent in Australia, but the family-run retailer has seen the holiday grow over that time, and to this day, it becomes more popular each year. Dean puts the growing Halloween party down to the increase of US citizens in Australia: “We have a huge amount of immigration from the USA. My wife is from the USA actually. So I think initially, Halloween is being seeded by Americans living here that want to keep up the tradition. “With that you add that it’s a super fun event for kids and social media and you get virality. It’s just a great concept that people love and the 34
PATCHES THE CLOWN 35 years ago, Mala Salakas was Patches the Clown, an entertainer for children’s parties. Her passion for parties led her to open The Party People with her father, Peter Nikolas. In 2007, Mala’s sons, Dean and Peter, took over the business which had two employees at the time. Today the retailer has over 40 employees, is the market leader for party supplies online in Australia, and has two bricks and mortar stores, one of which is the largest physical party store in Australia. Dean comments: “We used to get teased at school because our mum was a clown. Now we wear it as a badge of honour.”
Above: Dean Salakas and his brother, Peter, took over The Party People in 2007 so that their parents could retire
word is spreading. Halloween will eventually be a mainstream holiday in Australia as well. It’s now hard to get around in October without you being aware Halloween is an event.” Halloween falling on a weekend causes spikes in Halloween sales at the retailer, but there is a continual trajectory of growth. Dean explains: “I would say there is a difference between Friday, Saturday and Sunday Halloweens to Monday – Thursday Halloweens. Each year, Halloween is one day later and each year Halloween grows, the Saturday is the peak, then Sunday is comparable, and the Monday is a drop from the previous year. That said, the Monday is always bigger than six years prior to that by a long way. So it’s definitely growing.” While Halloween is gaining in popularity in the territory, the trends are particular to Australia, says Dean: “Halloween in Australia is different to the USA. It’s centred around spooky dress up like ghosts, witches, devils, zombies, etc. “Zombies have been big in recent times, taking over from vampires. I think with the pandemic being related to many zombie stories, we might see zombies’ popularity grow this year.”
OCTOBER 2021 PROGRESSIVE PARTY EUROPE
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04/10/2021 14:25