Ramsey's Party Fair Celebrating 20 Years in Business

When the Laucella family decided to open a store in the Interstate Shopping Plaza in Ramsey 20 years ago, the shopping center was a very different place.

According to Chris Laucella, whose parents, Albert and MaryAnn, opened Party Fair in the spring of 1993, most of the stores there today weren’t there.

“It was a little bit of a struggle in the beginning,” Chris Laucella, who now runs the store, said. ”It was definitely much slower here until the Shop Rite opened up [in the later 90’s].”

Laucella said his dad was working in the wholesale grocery business when he decided to venture into the party supply business.

“I had a cousin who worked in the industry, and my dad really wanted to start something of his own. He wanted the independence,” Laucella said. So, in 1992, the family purchased a Party Fair franchise and decided on the shopping center as its location. Every member of the family worked for months to set up the store, he said.

“I had just graduated college, and I’m a piano teacher by trade,” Laucella said. “So, going from that to unloading boxes, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing. But, my dad had some good instincts about it.”

Laucella said his father’s wholesale experience helped the family institue some policies and procedures in the store that have helped keep it going for the past 20 years.

First, Laucella said he took a “wholesale mentality,” which allowed the store to keep prices low while still offering quality merchandise. They also kept the business very family-oriented, and, over the years, have developed relationships with many people in and around the Ramsey community.

“My mom is an angel,” Laucella said. “She handles all of the donations we give out to school groups and organizations in town. She is always so happy to put together a basket or find a way to give to these places, and those relationships with our customers are very important.”

Laucella said the family has also always focused on procedural elements to help keep their loyal customers coming back, like offering custom party favors, keeping an eye on the competition, making sure the store is neat and clean at all times, and working hard to make sure the over 65,000 pieces of merchandise in the shop are on display in an appealing way.

“A lot of times, people come in here not knowing exactly what they want,” he said. “They will come in asking, ‘what should I get to make my party look great?’ After 20 years of being here, we are happy to give suggestions.”

Laucella, who now has three young kids of his own, officially took over running the business in 2010, after his father died.

“My mother is 72, and is still working here,” he said. “And if my father had lived to 92, I think he would have been working until he was 92. At the end of the day, you’re working in parties. It’s a really fun place to come in to work everyday.”

Laucella said his family decided to celebrate the fun they have been having for the past two decades by throwing a Customer Appreciation Party Monday and Tuesday. Party Fair will be offering sales on every item in the store as a way to celebrate.

“Our customers are loyal, there’s no doubt about it. They are what has kept us open,” Laucella said. “So, we want to thank them for that.”

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