Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to ThyThy Fuqua. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

ThyThy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Our story is about creating a product by finding the gap in the market place. We design, or work with artists, to create and sell paper party goods for the western market. Our products are authentically western with the western home and lifestyle in mind. Until the creation of Party West, there weren’t any products that captured the western spirit with authenticity and quality. If you searched the web, you would find sheriff’s badges, dairy cows, and bandanas plastered across plates and napkins. The western spirit is filled with heritage and pride. We try very hard to take that spirit and translate it into paper goods. Our collections include rodeo back numbers (worn on the backs of the contestants), cowhide print, serape, turquoise jewelry, tooled leather, and yes, even bandanas. We truly consider how the western home may be decorated and strive to create products that would look good in those environments.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Party West is the only paper party goods company that is wholly western. I, Thy-Thy, owner and creator of Party West, found that “western birthday party” meant sheriff’s badges and saloon doors. Having a background in the western industry, I know that sheriff’s and saloon doors have nothing to do with the rodeo or the western lifestyle. I sought out to create products that would fit in a western home and mirror the western lifestyle. We have had great success in the wholesale market–selling mainly to western stores across the country. We are actually in more western stores than party stores! We offer paper plates, cups, napkins, and gift wrap with western prints, patterns, and motifs. A few examples include our rodeo back number balloons and plates, turquoise and silver concho jewelry plates, serape tissue paper, and brown cow print gift wrap. We even have fringe cocktail napkins and cowboy hat-shaped plates. We are still growing our collections to include everyone in the western industry. That means more cattle, more horses, and cowgirls!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Being present physically. I think a lot of people rely on heavy online presence but there’s nothing like meeting people and sharing your story. We’re still fairly new so we’ve only participated in a handful of shows but when we make it to the shows, we have zero regrets. We get a lot of feedback. We found out we weren’t showing up in online searches. We also get validation. We often hear “where were you when my son turned 1? I needed this!” There is also no substitute for seeing and touching products. I think people latch on to a face, a story. They are able to get that out of our brand when they see us, meet us, and learn about us. We look forward to adding for shows as we grow as we truly believe that will help us grow meaningful clients.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

All of our products are manufactured overseas. We actually searched where other party suppliers are manufacturing and that’s how we have our main manufacturer. We work with roughly 6 different manufacturers to get all of our products made. Alibaba was also a great source–it’s a huge marketplace filled with manufacturers for everything under the sun. Our biggest manufacturer produces our paper plates, cups, napkins, and gift bags. Another for wrapping paper and tissue paper. Our smallest accounts handle one-off items like our one balloon, candles, and melamine platter. One of the main downsides to manufacturing overseas would be the time, mainly due to shipping. Another would be quality control. It’s hard to maintain good quality throughout your entire order because of large minimums–it’s super time consuming going through your entire shipment. It’s also hard to do chargebacks or send back damaged goods.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.partywest.com
• Instagram: @partywestpg
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/partywestpg

Image Credits
Jana Cantua