A High-flying Party Shop

By Bennett Chan
Wednesday - July 12, 2006
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Party Pizzazz owner Bennett Chan happily fills his store with the essentials needed for a fun party
Party Pizzazz owner Bennett Chan happily fills his
store with the essentials needed for a fun party

Article Powered by Helium? Well, not really. But Party Pizzazz is truly powered by helium - helium balloons, that is. My wife, Theresa, and I pride ourselves in having the best selection of balloons in Hawaii. Walking through either our Kaimuki or Kailua stores proves it. Giant Mylar balloons of all shapes and sizes cover the walls, anything from hula girls and sea creatures, to butterflies and cartoon characters, and everything in between. We also carry more than 1,000 styles of Mylar and latex balloons for most occasions or events.

It all started after years of searching for the right type of business. Theresa found Party Pizzazz in downtown Kaimuki, next to Kaimuki Ace Hardware. It was a cute little shop with flashy colors and decorations, but needed a little tweaking to bring it in line with her vision. She changed the store logo and added embroidered uniforms for store employees. Merchandise lines were added or dropped to satisfy customers’ needs, while many hard-to-find items were added.


After being inundated with requests for special balloon decorations, we learned to make balloon arches, drops, bouquets and other balloon decorations, which added a huge dimension to the balloon services we currently offer. That set us apart from the party supply stores that simply sell party supplies and balloons, and the balloon decorators that just do balloon decorating. We are the only party supply store in Honolulu to do both - offer great party supplies and balloon decorating!

In 2000, we moved from our original location across from Longs Drugs to a much larger store, located between Castle Medical Center and Kailua High School.

Custom balloon jobs now account for an ever increasing portion of our business. Many companies and organizations have found that balloons are a great and inexpensive way to advertise. Our customers have found that custom-printed balloons and balloon arches are always a big hit. And, of course, balloon deliveries are a big plus for many of our clientele.

Besides balloons, Party Pizzazz carries a great variety of party supplies and decorations. Choose from plates, banners, streamers, piñatas, favors, and more. Theme party supplies for children’s birthdays are a specialty. With more than a dozen styles to choose from, kids love selecting from Scooby Doo, Winnie the Pooh, Spiderman, Care Bears, Disney Princess or others. For the adults, festive decorations magically appear on the shelves as each holiday or event comes around like the Super Bowl, New Year’s, graduation, Halloween or baby showers.


Working together can have its moments, but Theresa and I try to complement each other. Using our individual strengths, we’ve made this a fun and thriving business. Like most women, she loves to shop, so she does most of the buying, while I try to handle many of the business aspects, including servicing most of our corporate customers.

We attribute a large part of our success to devoted corporate customers. Hotels, restaurants, hospitals, florists, automobile dealerships, country clubs, advertising agencies, non-profit organizations, schools, political groups and various other businesses have become hooked on Party Pizzazz! Now it’s time to add yourself to this list!

Next Week: Kelsey Sears, owner The Ultimate You

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