Taking It Higher -- Balloon Business Branches Out With Worldwide Sales

When The Red Balloon Co. landed the contract to market Bumbershoot souvenirs, the Seattle-based company decided to blow a breath of fresh

air into the festival's merchandising plan

What evolved was the Bumbershoot Store, a concept dreamed up by John Gallant, president of The Red Balloon Co.

The stores, which resemble medieval tents with three-dimensional Bumbershoot signs along the outside, are stuffed with everything from 20th anniversary limited edition T-shirts to postcards that can be mailed directly from Bumbershoot with a festival postmark provided by the U.S. Post Office.

Gallant said his idea was to give people a choice, but not too much. ``Too much choice and we can't service them. But too little choice means that if all you see is one thing, then you might not buy it if you don't like it,'' he said.

``Our sales have dramatically increased in the two years Red Balloon has been selling Bumbershoot goods,'' said Randy Damewood, the festival's merchandise manager. Damewood said Bumbershoot was expecting business to increase 12 percent to 15 percent when Red Balloon took over in 1989, but sales skyrocketed 25 percent.

``We're hoping he can do it again this year,'' Damewood said. He declined to give exact figures on revenues, citing security reasons.

Damewood said about 250,000 are expected to attend the 1990 Bumbershoot and many of them will buy at least one souvenir.

An especially popular item is the Bumbershoot Limited Edition T-shirt. Last year, Gallant said he sold out his entire stock of T-shirts in one day.

``Bumbershoot means something different to everyone, whether it's the year the Eurythmics played or when Tina Turner was here. People have a real sense of attachment to Bumbershoot and we wanted to develop merchandise that would mirror that,'' Gallant said.

This year, people already are calling to get their hands on the 100 percent cotton oversized T-shirts with original artwork by Seattle artist Carl Smool. The shirts will retail for $20.

Symbols from the past 20 years of Bumbershoot, including the year of the spaceship landing, are packed into an upturned umbrella on a black or white field, depending on the customer's preference.

When it's not Bumbershoot time, Gallant and partner Jim Parker create huge balloon installations for parties, conventions, weddings and corporate events. Gallant started the company 10 years ago as a way to fill in breaks between stints working for Alaska Air Lines.

Red Balloon became involved with Bumbershoot when Gallant sold balloons to festival participants in 1982. Then in 1989, the company bid for the merchandising contract.

Although Gallant still delivers balloon bouquets and retails some items at the company's Pine Street headquarters, his focus now is a marketing strategy that brings together balloon companies all over the world.

Similar to the Century 21 Real Estate concept, a balloon company would gain exclusive rights to market under the Red Balloon name in a territory, such as a state or region of the world. Red Balloon would provide brochures on balloon installations, diagrams on how to achieve the dramatic effects and the products. Gallant has already signed up stores in Japan, England, Holland, three Canadian provinces and 30 states.

Gallant has taken a business primarily run as a mom-and-pop enterprise and made it into a worldwide marketing program. Gallant said he does plan to open a larger retail site after having closed his retail store on Broadway last year.

``There has been a lot of competition in the industry. And I think it is starting to mature. Eight to 10 years ago, balloon bouquet and decorating businesses were attractive because it had low-cost set up.''

What people didn't realize, Gallant said, is that balloon decorating is an art form. ``They just couldn't buy a helium tank and balloons and expect to make a profit,'' he said.

An installation such as the floating forest Red Balloon designed for the Singapore Arts Festival can take dozens of hours of manpower, not including the design time it takes to get 5,000 balloons to look like trees.

Prices for a balloon installation run up to $16,000. But vice president Jim Parker said balloons are cost-effective when a company is trying to achieve a special effect on a dramatic scale.

In the corporate world, Red Balloon has created exact replicas of corporate logos for 7-Eleven, Seafirst and Microsoft.

Gallant said it has taken a long time for corporations to have faith in balloons as a way to decorate.

``When people hear the word `balloon' they equate it with the free ones they used to get as a child. They are baffled that they have to pay for them,'' Gallant said.