Not Your Mothers Party Store Blog

It’s not a good deal if you have to stand outside in the cold all night!

partystore — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 18:01:28 +0000

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Sue and I spent the day with her sewing bow ties and party hats while I watched football and our adult Daughters cooking for us. Great job Girls! So sometime in the afternoon a Best Buy Black Friday ad caught my attention. Lilly wanted a laptop for Xmas and Best Buy had some for under $200. Now I really don’t like shopping except online and Lilly and I are not usually drawn in by lost leaders but we got hooked on this one. Too good to be true? Well kinda. They had somewhere between 3 and 15 at that price. As most of you know some of the big stores were either open all nite or at 4 or 5 in the morning on “Black Friday”. Best Buy opened at 5am. Now we live a semi sleepy little area on the California Central Coast and we just kind of figured that maybe a few folks might get in line a little early. BTW by our California standards it was really cold last nite. So we got up at 4am, and armed with a cup of coffee and a credit card we drove up to the local shopping center. It was full! I don’t think there was even a place to park. It was cold! Best Buy had a line of at least 3 to 4 hundred people in pajamas and blankets. We drove by and turned right back onto the freeway! Really! Well, it was an experience . If staying all nite outside in the cold in your nightie to get a chance at a “good deal” is what you are into- hey, that’s great! But I am going back to bed – I can shop online anytime! And I don’t have to park!
Gary

PS: Not knocking Best Buy- A great store and they are online as well!

New and improved store!

notyourmom — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:55:18 +0000

Finally online again!

We are in our October moment and after 25 years can usually tell what folks are up to with their purchases, but have a few that have stumped us. The guy in Kansas with the hula skirt, Tahiti music CD, the fake boobs all made sense, but he added a derby hat, so we really wanted to know what he’s doing, and he told us.

(You will have to wait until the pictures come in November for us to tell you.

And the 6 pair of strawberry sunglasses in New York today made us wondering hmmm, what’s going on here?

We love to guess what our customers are doing with our zany products and do not like to pry, but sometimes they will offer it up, and it is not always what we imagine.

That’s one of the best perks with this business, to know that there are more goofy fun folks out there besides us. So stay tuned , and we will share what we can!

Celebrate 100 years! (50 + 50)

partystore — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:06:45 +0000

The dilemma of a couple both celebrating a 50th birthday:

Celebrate 100 years! Like Kim who came into the store today and wanted a 50th birthday theme for 2 people, I suggested celebrating 100 years! She got “100 “napkins, whirlies, $100 fake money, a giant $100 bill, and ordered “100″ Mylar balloons. We talked about a trivia game about 1910 and the winner would walk away with $100.The bottom line was keeping the theme a secret. She did get 2 “make your own sashes” and was going to write her name plus his equals 100 and wear them so guests would get it instantly. So a great opportunity for them to do a combo of numbers and make a unique party theme.

Wedding Party Tip

partystore — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:13:35 +0000

Planning a 2010 wedding? Want a fun activity for your fun guests?

Have a “Photo Booth” at the reception:
Easy to do, Enlist older kids to help (otherwise they get bored), Have your guests come away with a fun memento!

- Have a backdrop available (see our door curtains) and someone that is a bit good with the camera.

- Purchase a variety of items that can be taken waist high and up such as hats, necklaces, boas, also props. Have couple/ group possibilities like the roaring 20’s, hippies, disco, 80’s etc. and random hats, bow ties etc. for single poses.

- You can create a sign to go overhead (Justin and Melissa’s Wedding) to mark the moment.

- And if you have a Polaroid (do they still make these?) or a digital camera you can have a contest for the best photo.

To get inspired, visit our “Hats and Headpieces” section of the store, and keep in mind that folks will be there in their nice duds, so you are basically giving them items to easily go over them.

Have a great time with this, and congratulations!
(Especially those of you that have chosen 10-10-10 !!)

From the beach party bunker……..sue

The Famous Clown Shoe Urinal Story

partystore — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:48:06 +0000

This was maybe 8 years ago when we used to rent costumes in Northern Calif. We had 3 dressing rooms, and in one was Snow White, another was her Prince Charming, and # 3 was a drunk painter from Lake County. I think he was trying on a convict costume. (More on Lake County in future blogs.)

This was probably Halloween, and needless to say, extremely busy. My partner Ellie, and my daughter Lilly manning the dressing rooms. All of a sudden poor Snow White was surprised by a red plastic clown shoe shoved in her dressing room filled with……………drunk painter urine!

I was up front and heard the commotion. Apparently the drunk painter claimed no responsibility and Snow White was very gracious considering the situation. I remember that Prince Charming was really pissed (no pun intended).

The problem was that we had clown shoes right outside of the dressing rooms (rentals) and no accessible bathrooms, so our drunk painter mistakenly thought the shoes were a substitute for a urinal. Anyone could make that mistake, right?

This was the last time I could convince my eldest child to help out in the family business. She is now working in a field far removed from costumes and parties.

Respectfully submitted,
Sue
NYMPS
PS (and we love all of our customers,
even drunken clowns………..
they just present more challenges )

From the secret Beach Party Bunker……..

partystore — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:26:29 +0000

What did Zappa say? “Is that a real poncho, or a Sears poncho? Hmm, no fooling?” Is this a real party and costume store, or a …what?

Never did I think almost 25 years ago that this is what it would end up to be. (When I watched “Woodstock” as a 14 year old never did I think that Wavy Gravy would someday be a customer of mine)

So here we are with soon to be loyal customers that are in cyber space, and not face to face. We have 2 plus years doing this attached to Ebay so i understand the concept, but here we go with our brand new store that hopefully will entertain you if nothing else.

And detached from Ebay we can bring in a whole different mix of products. So yes, Frank, I think you would have approved of our mix of product and quirky sense of humor.

This is a real poncho.

Respectfully submitted,
Sue, NYMPS

PS (ok you kiddies, that was old Frank
talking about hippie-wear from the ’60’s.
It was very cool to wear authentic poncho’s from Mexico,
but never a polyester Sears Department Store knock-off)