Black-owned balloon décor business celebrating expansion
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Black-owned Grand Rapids business offering balloon décor for corporate and social events is expanding.
Balloonafied is celebrating its expansion on Feb. 17 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new 2,600-square-foot production space, located on College Avenue near Cottage Grove. There will be food, music and a raffle.
Owner Shanta Abraham first got her start in balloon décor around seven years ago while she was planning her daughter’s second birthday party. She wanted the party to be extravagant and was looking for a local business that could help with the balloons.
“I was actually unable to find anyone, so that prompted me to actually go to see, ‘Well, how are these things created?'” she said.
How Black-owned Basic Bee supports other businesses
She explained she was always good with her hands, so after watching some YouTube videos on making balloon arches, she did the décor herself. After telling her mentor she was interested in starting a balloon décor business, Abraham said her mentor pushed her pushed her to sell her first piece.
Abraham worked with Spring GR, a Grand Rapids organization that offers a Small Business Accelerator.
“If you’re looking to get your business off the ground … you should start with Spring GR,” she said. “There’s a lot of resources there, there’s a lot of also support as well.”
She also worked with a mentor from SCORE, who will be speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Abraham has since grown Balloonafied into a successful business, offering products like balloon arches, columns and centerpieces.
Event decorations from Balloonafied. (Courtesy Balloonafied) Event decorations from Balloonafied. (Courtesy Balloonafied) Event decorations from Balloonafied. (Courtesy Balloonafied) Decorations from Balloonafied. (Courtesy Balloonafied)
For corporate events, she said there’s always a sense of relief that her company can take care of the decorations and the organizers don’t have to try to do it themselves.
“They’re always excited to see our design,” she said.
Things can be more emotional for social and private events.
“We always love to see the smiles — we’ve even gotten a few tears,” she said. “This is a very heartwarming business.”
#RevWithAGun: How a Black-owned gun shop serves as a ministry
Abraham said she has changed her company’s products over the years as her team worked to show people “the power of balloons.”
“We’ve been working on finding our place within this market and how we can actually cater to the corporate entities in the in this area,” she said. “Particularly the downtown space area, because we do service a lot of conventions and a lot of expos.”
The business owner, who has a background in customer service, said she had always been interested in entrepreneurship.
“If I can do this for someone else, if I can follow these processes, if I can be a star here … then I can do this for myself,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to do something or acquire something, to be really proud of myself. I never thought it would be a balloon business.”
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
