With recurring lockdowns during the pandemic, the party industry was globally affected, including Carole’s. However, shrugging off rumours of professional struggles, news has emerged that Carole has taken her business international by launching in the US.
According to the business’s Instagram account, it’s the brand’s first retail partnership outside of the UK and it’s the beginning of ‘larger expansion plans’ across the pond.
It comes only a year after a successful e-commerce launch in the UK, which saw Party Pieces Collections quickly become a best-selling range for the brand. The firm is based at Child’s Court Farm in Berkshire, employing 40 people and reportedly sending out 4,000 orders weekly.
Carole recently spent time visiting several stores overseas to see her products. ‘It’s very exciting to see our Party Pieces Collection expanding into the US starting with Saker ShopRites, a leading retailer in New Jersey and family-owned business with a long history of commitment to the customers and communities its stores serve,’ she said.
President and CEO of Saker ShopRite, Richard Saker, also said: ‘We are thrilled to be the first US retail partner for British heritage brand Party Pieces. We know our customers are coming together again to mark special occasions in their lives and they want to make their parties spectacular.’
Inspiration for Party Pieces reportedly came when Carole began organizing the Princess of Wales’s fifth birthday party in 1987. As a young mother, Carole wanted to ‘create imaginative parties for her children’, finding it difficult to find products that fit the bill. Realizing there was a ‘gap in the market’ for personal and exciting party products, she launched her business that same year.
All three of Carole’s children have worked for Party Pieces and before marrying Prince William in 2011, the Princess of Wales took the role of Project Manager for the brand. At the time, a royal aid told People magazine, ‘She has handed over her work to colleagues and is now preparing for her future life’.
Then Kate Middleton also worked as a Website designer. Weeks before her wedding to Prince William a friend of Middleton said: ‘Catherine is a naturally creative individual and has spent her professional life in the creative industries having worked at Jigsaw, then as a website designer, photographer, marketer and event’s organizer’.
