Business Profile: Party Bazaar

Patch interviewed Party Bazaar owner and celebration supplier extraordinaire Dixie Parenteau, whose famous shop is a true landmark.

How long have you lived in Clinton:   I feel like we've lived in Clinton for over 20 years since I spend over a third of each day here...but actually our home is out of town.  I'd prefer to live in Clinton. 

How long has Party Bazaar been in business:  For nearly 25 years. 

History of the business:   The Party Bazaar was started by Lou and Dorothy Panico nearly 25 years ago.  My husband Russ and I bought it from them in July 1989.  At first, Russ and his cousin Gene ran the store.  I was employed as manager of Three Cheers Hallmark in Middletown at the time so I only worked at Party Bazaar on Saturdays and Sundays and did the bookkeeping for the store at home.  After a couple of years Gene left to take another job, although he has continued to help us out over the years when needed.

During the mid-nineties business took a slump and Russ was given an offer that was too good to refuse at another place of employment, so I took over here, continuing to work for Three Cheers in their Meriden store as night manager.  For a while Ellen Cavanaugh (now director of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce) worked for us a couple of days a week, and after she left Mary Marszalek, who had just closed her "Balloon Basket," came to be part of our Party Bazaar family. We couldn't have lasted this long without her.  From time to time we've also enlisted the help of other family members and friends. 

What services and amenities do you offer:   The main thing we offer, of course, is a full line of paper goods and decorations for every occasion. We have an extensive collection of cake decorating and candy making supplies, pinatas, party favors, balloons, small gifts, gift wrap, costumes and novelty candies.  We do lettering on shirts and we do balloon decorating and deliveries for parties, receptions and other events.  We also do personalized imprinting on ribbons, napkins and other favors. 

What makes the Party Bazaar unique:  We have a very extensive array of colors of solid-color paper goods...actually over 30 colors, complete with matching plates, napkins, table covers, cups and cutlery. Our cake decorating and candy making department offers not only the newest trends, but also a wide assortment of shaped pans and yearbooks that are discontinued from Wilton. 

We carry costumes, crazy hats, make-up and disguises year-round. We have special gifts for the over-the-hill people like myself. And we have merchandise from past seasons always available. We also offer themes for those minor "holidays" like the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, the Academy Awards and the Kentucky Derby.  People staying in the campgrounds often come to us to get Halloween and Christmas in July stuff. 

Also, I think many people are surprised by the amount of merchandise that we are able to offer...and at our reasonable prices.  We've been doing business with our main party goods wholesalers long enough to have negotiated good discounts which, of course, we pass on to our customers. We also try to offer good personalized service. 

What is particularly popular this year:  Right now there isn't any major fad item, such as last year's Silly Bandz.  We do notice a growing trend toward the use of solid color party goods rather than those with a design, and more mixing and matching to make a more interesting table setting.  Cupcakes continue to replace full size cakes for many occasions, even wedding receptions, and candy buffets are the "in" thing at wedding receptions. I've also noticed a move from glitzy foil decorations back to paper lanterns, bells, garlands and streamers...maybe related to the "green movement."  Of course, the old favorites for younger partiers are still popular...horses, cars, sports, dinosaurs, jungle animals, princesses...not to mention SpongeBob, Spiderman, Winnie the Pooh, Scooby Doo and the Disney princesses...to mention a few. 

What do you like best about town:  The people, of course, and the small town atmosphere.  I grew up on a farm next to a town of 800 and, although Clinton is much larger, it still has the friendly and caring attitude that's a part of my original hometown. 

What do you like least about town:   There's almost nothing I don't like, except maybe for the traffic at times. 

Any personal thoughts you'd like to share?   We've been very thankful for our wonderful customers and the nice compliments they often pay us.  It's hard to believe we've been here for nearly 25 years.  That is until someone who came in for their 6th birthday 20 years ago comes in with their own little ones.  Then it's "how time flies."  It's been 25 years of ups and downs business-wise, but mainly "ups" satisfaction-wise.

Party Bazaar | 26 West Main Street | 860-669-6379