Fifty Years of Parties with the Pink Hippo

By megan montemarano

Summer is here. As calendars begin to fill, the excitement of returning to in-person events and gatherings is palpable. While this is certainly something to celebrate, Party Rental Ltd. is more energized than ever before for more reasons than one. The family-owned event rental business, known across the nation by its iconic pink hippo logo, is reflecting on 50 years of operations as it celebrates its golden anniversary. From weddings and corporate events to social gatherings, graduations, and bar/bat mitzvahs, a party that’s thrown correctly never goes out of style. Founders Michael and Sunny Halperin saw this as an opportunity to expand their rental business into a six-car garage located behind Oprandy’s. With only 100 wooden chairs, one style of chinaware, 50 tables, a few assorted odds and ends and a bit of inspiration, a true vision was born.

In just over a year, Michael and Sunny outgrew the garage and upgraded to a 10,000 square-foot facility in Englewood, and the rest is history. Today, Party Rental Ltd.’s 300,000 square-foot corporate headquarters is located right outside New York City in Teterboro, with

It all started in April of 1972 when Jersey Party Rental, the original company name, began as a secondary line of business for Oprandy’s Liquor Store in Englewood. At that time, Oprandy’s rented out tables, chairs and glassware to customers who were purchasing wine and spirits for home parties. additional design studios and warehouses in New York City, Philadelphia/the Mid-Atlantic, Virginia/Washington, D.C., New England and the Hamptons. These locations house over three million individual rental items and a large fleet of iconic pink hippo trucks.

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Why a pink hippo, you may ask? Besides being wildly recognizable for obvious reasons, there’s a story behind this unique logo often spotted on the road. As part of its rebrand in the late 70s, Party Rental Ltd. created a fresh logo of a camel carrying tables and chairs on its back. However, before digital ads, there were other variables to consider. When placing an advertisement in the Yellow Pages, the company received a call saying that they had misplaced the camel design, but they happened to have artwork for a hippo on-hand and asked if they could use that instead. The company agreed to the hippo, chose the color pink, and let fate take over. Clearly, Party Rental Ltd. was meant to stand out from the start!

Now with more than 55,000 events and celebrations per year under its belt, the constantly evolving company offers the widest variety and largest inventory of rental products in the nation, priding itself on exceptional service, style and innovation. Every day, Party Rental Ltd. strives to foster a “party rental family” atmosphere, where employees embrace a team-oriented culture with a defined set of core values based on integrity, respect, community, opportunity, health

and safety. Establishing this strong work environment has led to great accomplishments, allowing colleagues to work better together and continue to improve in an environment where everyone cares about doing what is right for both their customers and each other. When asked what they are most proud of, their people topped the list. After all, the company’s success comes from the success of those around them.

“As we reflect on 50 years in business, we celebrate our many achievements as industry innovators in an environment where everyone cares about doing what is right for our customers and each other,” said Alan Gottlich, the current executive vice president and CFO.

With this mindset, it’s no surprise that many team members have been part of the Party Rental Ltd. work family for over 20, 30 and even 40 years. The future is bright for Party Rental Ltd. There’s an energetic, celebratory vibe as events begin to come back into full force. People are ready to party! With a focus on continuous improvement for the road ahead, the company hopes to streamline its online ordering process and provide even more tools to improve the customer experience. From start to finish, Party Rental Ltd. has the people, relationships and online tools needed to support its customers every step of the way for another 50 years and beyond. When it comes to the Pink Hippo, the sky’s the limit.

For more information on party rentals and services, visit the company website at www.partyrentalltd.com.

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