Balloon vendors can't seem to catch a break these days.
With helium costs skyrocketing and supply shortages developing, the balloon industry has struggled for more than a year to compete as worldwide demand for the gas has, well, ballooned. Adding to the turmoil is a bill in the California Legislature that would ban helium-filled foil representations of birthday cakes, Hello Kitty and the like.
Foil balloons -- made from a tough polyester film known as Mylar or some other metalized material -- are accused of causing hundreds of power outages each year in California by short-circuiting power lines they encounter during escape attempts.
For entrepreneurs such as Amanda Armstrong, a balloon ban in combination with higher costs could stick a pin in their business.
"It will hurt my sales, if not put me under," said Armstrong, who runs a balloon decorating business called Top Hat Balloon Werks from her home in Mission Viejo, servicing weddings, birthday parties, quinceaneras and other celebrations. The balloon designer, who can tick off the aesthetic and profit characteristics of various gas-filled creations, said metallic balloons accounted for about half of her $175,000 in annual sales.
"If they ban the foil balloons, not only will I not have those available to make my business run, but it also hinders my design capabilities," she said.
Armstrong, formerly an electrician for balloon bill proponent Southern California Edison, started the operation as a side business in 1999 after decorating her daughter's fifth birthday party.
"I just thought this would be an excellent business," said Armstrong, who helped organize a protest over the bill in Pasadena last month that drew nearly 400 people. "I was able to have a family life, able to schedule around my kids, along with having a business."
LA Balloons, a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Conwin Inc., distributes foil balloons to about 5,000 accounts in Southern California including florists, grocers and party supply stores. President Mike Wing said a ban on the balloons, which account for 40% of his sales, would extend much further than legislators anticipated.
"You can't imagine the loss," Wing said. "There are 40 million to 45 million foil balloons sold every year in California. Twenty thousand jobs are at risk if this bill passes," including employees from shops that rely on metallic balloon sales.
Balloon sellers have been buffeted by other problems.
