Albuquerque has been known as the "Balloon Capital of the World" for quite a number of years, but the only time that you could get a wide selection of balloon memorabilia was during the fiesta. That has now changed since Discover Balloons opened a store in Old Town Albuquerque, featuring the largest selection of quality ballooning goods anywhere in the world..
Discover balloons was just a dream when Patty Lewis and Doug Grimes got together in 1988. They met at a balloon event in San Diego where Doug was competing and Patty was crewing. Doug owned a ride business called "A Beautiful Morning Balloon Company" and Patty worked for PSA Airlines. They discussed the possibility of putting together a balloon memorabilia booth and taking it on the road to various events around the country. Doug bought a fifth wheel trailer that would become their inventory storage and their living quarters on the road. They started going to gift shows and invested all of their spare income in inventory. Their first balloon event to try out their balloon booth was in Sacramento, California in 1988. They took what they learned at this event, improved their concept, and started booking more events.
At some of the early events Doug tried to compete as a balloon pilot, then he would rush back to the field to help Patty run the booth. They quickly found that this arrangement didn’t work very well, so now they both work the booth at most events. Up until the 1992 season Patty was still working for the airline and had to fly into cities to help Doug run the booth at balloon events on the weekends. This ate up most of her vacation time, and Doug had to drive the truck and trailer to all the events by himself. She finally quit the airline to do Discover balloons full time.
During 1992 Doug and Patty were traveling the balloon circuit full time, attending over 28 events, and driving over 56,000 miles while doing it. They were having fun traveling with the regulars on the balloon circuit, and were getting valuable insight into what kind of products were needed by the balloonists and commercial contracts. They continued reinvesting all of their income back into their balloon inventory. Doug and Patty were constantly searching every venue for new ballooning items that could be sold in their booth, or stockpiled for the catalog business they wanted to start.
In 1993 they started their catalog business because they had built up a large inventory. The large inventory would allow them to sell most of the items that they featured in the catalog for several years, rather than selling out of item quickly and making the catalog obsolete. Patties mom ran the catalog business during the months that Doug and Patty were on the road running the booth at various events. In 1994 Discover Balloons added a wholesale division to supply other retail outlets, safety seminars, and balloon events. During this time they narrowed their search for a permanent retail location down to five cities, finally deciding on Albuquerque in 1995.
Doug and Patty found a location in Old Town Albuquerque and worked night and day to get it opened in time for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in October. During the time that they were working on the remodeling of the store they were still doing balloon events with the booth, and running the catalog business. This didn’t leave much time for things like sleeping and eating, but they were opened for fiesta and the store looked great. Discover Balloons was also expanding into another new market by designing and producing balloon products for corporate customers. They are also running the Official concession booths for numerous balloon events around the country.
Each year Doug and Patty take a buying trip that starts with working as observers at the Saga balloon event in Japan. When they finish with the event in Saga they travel to places like Hong Kong, Korea, Taipei, and Singapore, looking for new products to buy or produce. They also have numerous sources for products produced in Europe, Mexico, Australia, and South America.
If you ever get a chance to talk to Doug and Patty (during a lull in business), ask them about some of their escapades in ballooning, and especially some of their buying trips to the far east.
If you get to Albuquerque you can find Discover Balloons at 205-C San Felipe NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104. You can write them at this address to request one of their catalogs, or you can contact them by phone at 505-842-1111, Fax 505-842-0656. Their E-mail address is :dballoons @rt66.com, or travel their web site at: http://www.specialtymile.com/discoverballoons.
