Sydney-based party supplies retailer The Party People is up for sale after brothers and business owners Dean and Peter Salakas determined the company requires “substantial investment” to take it to the next level. 

“We have grown it substantially from when we took it over when it was just my parents’ small business with one employee and this tiny shop in the local area,” Dean Salakas, The Party People’s ‘chief party dude’, told Inside Retail. “But we’ve hit a point where to really take it further we need substantial investment.”

Salakas said that he and his brother would be open to an investor coming on board, but he acknowledged this could be difficult in the current environment. 

“Failing that, we’ll take a sale and go do something else. Because if we’re not going to grow this massively through investment, we’re not motivated to stay on with the business as a small to medium business. We want to do big things,” he said. 

The Party People was started by Dean and Peter’s mother, Mala Salakas, who opened the first store in Sans Souci, NSW, with her father, Peter Nikolas, in 1986. Mala previously had a home-based business hosting and catering for kids’ parties as “Patches the Clown”. 

Dean and Peter worked in the business from a young age, and they officially purchased The Party People in 2007. 

They expanded the business’s online offering, and in 2011, launched Australia’s largest party store in Drummoyne, NSW.

Despite its small size, The Party People has been at the forefront of retail innovation over the years. In 2003, it became one of the first companies in Australia to use Google Ads, and 20 years later, in 2023, it launched the world’s first augmented reality shoppable mirror. 

The business has serviced over 1 million parties. It is profitable and currently has over 20 employees.