After 34 years in business — all of them on East Hampton's Park Place — the Party Shoppe will close its doors at the end of February when its owner, Theo Landi, retires.
Back when Ms. Landi and Geri Sanicola, her sister-in-law, opened the shop, "there was no place out here for people to go to give a party," she said this week. It was years before the internet would change the retail landscape, and if you wanted party decorations for a birthday, New Year's Eve, Thanksgiving, or Valentine's Day it usually meant a trek to points west to track them down. Ms. Landi had already been working in retail at a stationery shop called the File Box, and decided she'd be the one to fill the niche.
The best part, she said, has been being around people as they plan their celebrations. "This should be a happy place for people to come to."
"I love being with people, I always have." Wherever she goes, she ends up in a conversation, making her distinctly suited for the job. At the Party Shoppe she's had a chance to help more than one generation plan special occasions. "I have loved seeing people come in with their little children, and now those little children have grown up and are bringing their children in."
She has tried to keep things affordable, too.
Tastes and buying habits have changed. Before the internet, Halloween was huge for the Party Shoppe, but around 2004, Ms. Landi stopped stocking costumes and switched to Halloween accessories only. Valentine's Day, too, was a big deal before schools changed the rules about decorations and such. "That made a big difference."
New Year's Eve and Fourth of July have remained the biggest holidays for the store.
"It used to be that the older generation loved to do dinner parties, bridge parties, Thanksgiving, and the holidays. . . . Holidays were an all-day event for the family." Not so today. And the children's side of the store, where families can buy themed plates and party decorations, has changed dramatically with the rise of online retail.
"But balloons, everybody still loves balloons and cards and gift wrap," said Ms. Landi, who handles balloon delivery herself. "I like to see that people are pleased with what they are getting, and to make sure it's what they wanted."
People are always saying, "Oh thank goodness, you're still here," she recalled on Friday.
Part of that is owing to a "wonderful landlord" who has renewed her lease time and again. This time around, the McDonald family, the owners of the building, finally have plans for something different there. And Ms. Landi, who has been working since she was 17 and will be 80 soon, said she felt the time was right to retire.
Nonetheless, "I'll miss it terribly. I love picking out things for the store," she said. "Our customers have been wonderful."
Many things in the shop are already on sale, and starting Jan. 3 everything will be half off. "And if anybody needs shelves, everything is going."
As to what she'll do with all her free time come March, Ms. Landi may "go back to playing mah-jongg" and would love to volunteer to read to children at a library or even do deliveries for Meals on Wheels. There may be a Viking river cruise in her future, too.