Resouce Articles
Arizona Daily Sun
Posted in Local on Sunday, September 19, 2010 5:00 am Updated: 3:13 pm.
Any parent of a young child will tell you that a pinata is the fluffy cardboard and colored paper equivalent of a new car for a teenager's birthday.
However, getting the right pinata can be a nightmare. A pinata of, say, an obscure superhero, might cost more to get the oddly shaped outline of black-costumed Spiderman shipped than the presents, the balloons and the cake.
But what if someone could design your own pinata and fill it with snacks of your choosing?
Reggie and Sharlene Fouser, the owners of Confettis Party Store on Fourth Street, have found success in this tiny market they have built and cornered over the last year, selling hundreds of personalized pinatas over the Internet to customers nationwide. The origin of the personalized pinatas started several years ago as the Fousers looked into various niche services when larger national retailers started carrying party supplies that made a dent in their bottom line.
Their first idea was to buy a top-of-line color printer able to print banners.
"People needed banners for birthdays and businesses wanted banners they could use and throw away, so we got into that," Sharlene explained. "At the same time, we launched a website and looked to selling things via the Internet."
Soon, the couple found themselves selling off-the-shelf pinatas online with their new Web presence.
"What was odd to us was that the shaped pinatas were more expensive to ship than it was to purchase the pinatas," she said.
BIKERS BUY PINATAS
With orders coming in, Confettis Party Store looked to start carrying hard-to-find pinatas. And that was when they found their niche: bikers.
Yes, lovers of hogs, choppers, sports bikes and motorcycles were lining up to buy the pre-made pinatas with their favorite logo.
And that is exactly when their distributor stopped selling the popular pinatas. A replacement was impossible to find.
"We just couldn't find another distributor," she said.
So the pair got creative with the high-end printer - printing up non-copyrighted images to put on what Reggie calls "bodies."
The empty pinata shells are circular and flat when shipped in what looks like a pizza box. But they can be easily expanded when they arrive and filled with candy or whatever else the buyer may choose to put in there.
The new do-it-yourself pinata has taken off - 225 have been sold in the last year. They've been used for baby showers, weddings, birthdays and other occasions.
A BELTWAY HIT
One of the most unusual, Reggie remembers, was a pink and mint-green body paired with a photo of retiring D.C. bureaucrat in a gray suit.
The order came in when the only pinata left in the store was the oddly colored pinata, he said.
He said the unusual pairing for the retiring man's party seemed to work.
"She was elated," he remembers. "She said we were the hit of the party."
To help grow their business, the pair has turned to the Northern Arizona Center for Emerging Technologies. They will be the incubator's first client not to focus specifically on new technologies or renewable energy sources.
A veteran of retail sales, Sharlene explained they needed help with technical issues. Currently, she said their website was difficult to find for the casual shopper.
"We are not technically savvy at all and that is an understatement," she said. "They've taken us under their wing, which is incredible for a mom and pop retail business."
With the help of NACET, the Fousers hope to eventually expand their offerings and cut out the various suppliers.
Currently, the store imports the blank pinatas from Mexico.
Sharlene hopes to one day begin production of "green" pinatas here in Flagstaff - using all recycled materials.
Joe Ferguson can be reached at jferguson@azdailysun.com or 556-2253.
Confettis Party Store
2510 N. Fourth St./ Flagstaff
522-5930 / personalizedpinatas.com
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