Welcome to BMTV episode 24! This week, Nikki Thompson from Northstar Balloons popped in to talk about their best-selling balloons and give you an insight into how Northstar runs. As a company, they are relatively new to the UK, but are making a big impact with their ranges due to the experience of founder Garry Kieves, who originally started Anagram 35 years ago. As an American-based company, Northstar’s minimum orders to the UK are quite high and they predominantly sell to wholesalers like Balloon Market. We then order in large quantities but have no minimum order, which supports our trade and retail customers who sometimes just buy a few balloons at a time!

Northstar are very proud of their failure rate (or lack of it!), stating the secret to their success is that they don’t rush production. Some companies may speed their machines up to increase the amount of balloons produced, but the sheer speed with which foil balloons are sealed can often lead to manufacturing defects, causing balloons to deflate or burst. For Northstar, quality is more important than quantity, so it is very rare that we get complaints or returns from Northstar-made balloons. So what balloons do they produce I hear you ask…

Numbers and Letters

Northstar’s biggest selling and most popular range is their 16 inch air fill numbers and letters, of which we stock the complete range in blue, magenta, gold and silver! See below:

The benefit of using the 16 inch numbers is of course that they are air-fill balloons. If you are decorating a party or event, they are a cheap way to dress up a room as you can hang these small shapes on nylon line for a nice personalised banner. This will also cut down your helium costs. Also if you are a retailer, these balloons are inexpensive and are supplied packaged so make a great point of sale for your shop. They come with a straw, so that customers can fill them by mouth and don’t have to worry about complicated helium cylinders!

For those more inclined to use the traditional larger numbers and letters, you’ll be pleased to hear that Northstar also stock them in a 34 inch range. This includes the Chevron numbers , which are so in this year! The colours of the larger shapes match those of the smaller ones, so you could use a mix of the 34 and 16 inch to make some creative decorations. Also in the range are the much anticipated hashtag and ampersand foils for your social media campaigns!

Shapes

It’s not only the large and small letters and numbers that match; Northstar also try to produce air-fill and supershape balloons in matching designs such as a sports car, princess crown and my personal favourite: the pirate fish. This combination allows you to create some great party themes such as pirates, where you can use the larger balloons as decorations and the smaller balloons as party favours to include in goodie bags!

Also in the supershape range, Northstar have a fantastic dragon balloon and some realistic-looking dinosaur balloons that are proving to be some of our best sellers. The 3D balloon shapes are where Northstar excels, as each balloon has a unique design; it’s not just a different pattern printed onto the same shape, or even the same design printed on both sides. For example, the “Nice to Gnome You” balloon!

Tried and True

On a more classical note, Northstar do have a “Tried & True” range of 18 inch foil round, square and heart balloons with ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Get Well’ messages. Firm favourites in the office are the “From One Diva to Another” birthday balloon, and the “MR & MR / MRS & MRS” heart shaped balloons for same-sex weddings. We really like Northstar’s style, as they seem to focus on what they can do differently to set themselves apart from the crowd, and the general look and feel of their balloons is very contemporary which guarantees a lot of interest!

While the Northstar range is not perhaps as big as some other manufacturers just yet, what they have produced is great quality balloons with exciting designs. We are sure they’re going to go from strength to strength, so keep an eye out for them in the future!

Posted by Rob

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