Checking In With...Where’s The Party?:

Candy Hirte, 62, opened her business 20 years ago. Where’s the Party?, at 270 E. 17th St., is a place where one can get lost in the confetti, colorful invitations, jewelry, hats, party goods and balloons.

How did this store idea come up 20 years ago?

It was so random. I was getting a divorce and I needed a job; I needed some place to go every day, and I needed a way to support my son, who was 9 at the time. He’s 29 now. I was taking a balloon sculpturing class, and I met a girl who was doing the same thing, and we decided to venture out and open the store.

No experience, no business plan, just jumped in with both feet. It was kind of scary.

Tell me about your experience as a new store owner.

It was really difficult, but you know when you’re younger you don’t know any better. We worked seven days a week, 10- to 12-hour days. My partner didn’t like it. So I bought her out.

So how did you continue alone?

We didn’t make any money for the first seven years. I started growing and all of my friends supported me. The clientele just grew and grew, and it got better and better. We kind of found a balance, but it took a long time. You know how they say “open the door and people will come?” Well, it’s not true.

What is it exactly that you sell in here?

We sell celebrations.

What do you mean you sell celebrations?

We help celebrate any kind of monumental event. So, we sell balloons and paper, party goods and greeting cards, and gifts and wedding accessories. It’s really about creating. We love to help you create your party from the theme to the party goods to the confetti and just put it all together. I think we are the only store in town that delivers balloons, and I think we have the largest selection of invitations in Orange County. We try to be really extremely customer oriented.

What do you do to be customer oriented?

We sit down with you and ask you to tell us what kind of party and celebration it will be. Is there a theme? Do you have a color theme? How many people will attend? It’s not like we have everything you need for the party, but we can guide you through it. It’s not just about finding what we have in our store, but we want to help your create the best party that you can remember and that creates great memories.

What makes your store different and special?

I really feel like we try to go the extra mile for our customers. I will special order anything for any customer. Usually, even if it’s not going to be beneficial to me, it’s about making you happy, it’s about making you feel special and making your experience in our store a positive one. And I think you can go to the big chain stores, so that’s why we feel like we want to be more personal and one on one with our customers. We have fabulous staff; it’s about the relationship we create with our customers.

Are you doing anything new with your store next year?

We want to have better presence on the Web. We just want to have more perspective on customer service and on better serving the needs in our community.

Where’s The Party?

Address: 270 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa

Call: (949) 722-1803

Online: www.wheresthepartyoc.com