Firms Thrive by Coming to the Aid of the Party
The business of renting party supplies is often a competitive one. But nowhere is it likely to be more so than on Topanga Canyon Boulevard near Sherman Way.
In that little corner of Canoga Park, two of the San Fernando Valley’s leading party-rental outlets are just several doors away from one another. And the year-end holiday season is a big time for both.
“We’re friendly competitors,” said Greg Kosct, owner of AA Rentals & Sales.
Agreeing, William Cameron LaBossiere, manager of the Abbey Rents outlet practically next door, said, “Competition sometimes is good.” Kosct said Abbey is the biggest party rental facility in the Valley, and that helps rather than hurts his firm, which rents out chairs, china, linens, lighting and other party paraphernalia.
“I’m wanting the exposure,” he said. “Customers have a way to shop where they can walk from one location to the next.”
LaBossiere refused to discuss sales, but Kosct said AA Rentals grosses about $350,000 a year. As for Abbey, he said, “He’s probably three to four times myself, maybe even more.”
Plenty of Business
One reason the competition is so friendly is that there is apparently plenty of business to go around. Said Kosct: “People want to entertain a little bit more. They might have a few extra dollars this year.”
LaBossiere called the season’s trade “tremendous,” adding, “I don’t have enough inventory.”
Inventory is also a problem in the limousine business. New Year’s Eve is perhaps the busiest time of year for limo fleets, and finding one the day before can be close to impossible.
If you’re lucky enough to have a limo reserved, it is going to cost. Valley limo operators say $50 an hour for a minimum of 10 hours is typical, plus a mandatory driver tip of at least 15%. That means a total cost of at least $575 for the evening.
That’s more than the usual rate. Yet Valley limo operators say they never have a single car idle on the big night.
“It’s one of our biggest times,” said Donald Grabowski, whose Starlite Limousine Service of Sherman Oaks has 28 cars and is acknowledged to be the Valley’s biggest. “Everybody wants a limo to go out for New Year Eve. That way they don’t have to worry about driving under the influence.”
But, for your money, you can travel in style. Besides the car and driver, you get a rolling party environment, often complete with bar, glasses, ice and mixers.
At Music Express, a Burbank limo service that caters to the entertainment industry, the firm’s 18 limos were booked up for New Year’s Eve about 10 days before the event, and at rates of only $38 an hour, albeit for at least 10 hours.
But more expensive firms sell out as well. “It’s so busy. People must reserve up to a month in advance at least,” said Hamid Rasouli, owner of the Ritz International Limousine Service in Sherman Oaks.
Most of his cars are taken by regular customers, who pay $40 an hour, he said. For others, the price goes up to $60.
Limo prices may be high, but revelers can take comfort knowing that champagne prices are not. With 40% to 50% of all the champagne sold in this country consumed in the holiday season, that’s good news for consumers right now.
Low prices, along with better quality at the low end, are two reasons champagne sales are booming, industry sources say. There are now many good champagnes available for less than $10 a bottle.
Partly as a result, sales of California bubbly rose to 27 million gallons last year from just 1.7 million gallons in 1960. Overall, the U.S. market hit 46.2 million gallons, up from 34.4 million in 1981.
At the Wine Institute, a trade group in San Francisco, director of economic research Wade Stevens said champagne sales in 1986 should be about the same as last year. But he cautioned that, before judging this year as flat, the fourth-quarter figures must be totaled, and they will not be in for some time.
Meanwhile, distributors are scrambling to fill the holiday demand.
“This is the busiest time of the year,” said Barry Helfand, president of Bohemian Distributing Co., a big wine and spirits distributor in North Hollywood. Strangely enough, he said, Father’s Day is the only other occasion that comes close.
For many, ‘tis the season to consider taxes, and Valley retailers report that customers are doing just that by shopping for big-ticket items. Many consumers apparently know that sales taxes will not be deductible next year, and that some costly items that can be taken as business expenses in 1986 cannot be in 1987.
Among the items for which taxes are a consideration: cars and personal computers.
“Normally, December is a decent month, not a great one,” said Tawny Arnaud, general sales manager of Galpin Ford in Sepulveda. “This year it’s an extremely active month for us.”
Arnaud said it’s “absolutely” because people will lose the sales tax deduction after the first of the year.
Nancy Hawkins, a part-owner of three ComputerLand stores in Ventura County, said well over half her customers cite changing tax rules. “Anybody who’s thought they might buy a computer, but has been postponing, is doing it now,” she said.
Big Month for Charity
December is traditionally a big month for charitable contributions. The holiday season encourages giving, and many people wait until year’s end because they have a better idea of their tax liability, charity executives say.
“Our bookkeeper is swamped,” said Jennifer Byram, director of development for the American Cancer Society in Van Nuys.
Larry D. Gray, who heads the Woodland Hills office of Ernst & Whinney, a Big Eight accounting firm, said that the normal year-end rush and the new tax law have combined to make the past few weeks particularly hectic.
“Everybody’s running around, hoping they’re doing the right thing,” he said. “They’re wrestling with everything--reorganizing, doing nothing. It’s crazy.”
