West Hollywood’s BlockParty retail store is celebrating its ‘Sweet 16’. The gayest store on earth opened its doors on October 16th, 2009.
There will be a cake for staff and customers at 6pm but no room for a party. Boxes are piled high with a Grab Bag Halloween squeezing every inch of space with trick or treats.
Inside the rainbow exterior of BlockParty WeHo is a mini gay department store featuring clothing from gay designers, international brands and West Hollywood themed merchandise from caps to coasters and fans and flip flops that are only sold in WeHo. The shop maintains an affordable pricing policy with volume price points and a meet or beat guarantee on every item sold.
BlockParty is ground zero for WeHo Pride, Halloween, and changes with the city celebrating and playing host to all the guests. Pride happens here. Halloween happens here. WeHo happens here. Yes that pic on the left is Council member John Heilman, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, and Estavan Montemayor.(2015)
The staff, all long term dedicated employees. I’m an owner without the keys or codes to the shop. My job is bring in the deals. Their job is get it out and sell it. Everybody is learning something and the shop is a home base for so many around the town. All the employees from all around drop in to say hello, its the hub of the day. BlockParty is sort of a nest for so many in good old Boystown.
Season after season we survived and had lots of fun too. The street has changed and we have changed with it. But the staff are mostly all the same as last year when I wrote this to celebrate our Quinciera. https://wehoonline.com/oped-blockparty-turns-15/ .
It hasn’t always been easy. But through Covid we stood up and at one point were the only business in the city open with PPE. Through the riots the rainbow flags never stopped waving.
The BlockParty brand recently expanded into wholesale with a new line of bamboo clack fans. The graphics were designed in-house and approved for sale on the Faire wholesale platform.
The company took its first orders from San Francisco based retailer ‘Knobs’, as well as Palm Springs based GayMart, and received its first reorders the next week. ‘Protect the Dolls’ emerged as the number one. Other favorites include ‘But Daddy I Love Him’, ‘I Shit Glitter’, ‘Diva’ and Halloween exclusives.
The initial collection was a collaboration of new ideas, updates to hot sellers, and unique holiday items. Dee Mahdnes was lead graphic designer on the project.
WeHo centric themes and custom fans are also available. Users can create their own custom fans with personalized images for a party or event. To create your unique gift for this holiday season or birthday email to info@blockpartyfans.com.
BlockParty WeHo, is the dba trade name for the retail store on Santa Monica Blvd. The parent company Blanks2Go Inc. is a vertical manufacturer of branded, private label and promotional merchandise. The company was founded in 2005.
Congratulations, Larry!
Appreciate your employee and have enjoyed shopping at Block Party for many years. Thank you.
Larry – Congratulations and thanks for providing a great store in WEHO. Your employees are the best and the product selection perfect for our community.