116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Former Party City manager planning homegrown store soon
McLane hopes to fill a gap left by chain’s closure
Kathryn Chadima
May. 28, 2025 9:42 am, Updated: May. 29, 2025 10:11 am
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The closing of Party City’s stores nationwide devastated many Cedar Rapids area customers of Melanie McLane, 41, a former Party City Manager. Numerous customers asked her where they could find those same products.
One customer, in tears, said she had been coming for years and had brought her grandkids, and then her great-grandkids were there. What would they do now? These comments sparked the idea for McLane to start her own party store business, “Party Town,” to fulfill their needs.
She plans to open a store in May, at a location still being finalized, with an inventory of plates, napkins, tablecloths in various themes and utensils to start. Themes include juvenile (Batman, princess, unicorn), birthday, milestones, baby, and wedding. Solid colors include pink, blue, red, purple, black, gold, white, and silver.
“I loved Party City, balloons, events, and I also love to help people think ‘outside of the box’ to get what they need for their events,” said McLane, who was manager there for 12 years and has been in retail/customer service for 25 years. “I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, especially because all my family are entrepreneurs.”
Her mother had owned a bookstore, Basically Books, in Edgewood Plaza. Melanie McLane remembers being there from age 8 on. Her dad installed hydraulic systems, owned a car lot, and started a car club that Melanie and her brother, J.C. McLane, still maintain. J.C. also owned a rim and tire shop.
After Party City closed, McLane got to work and applied for a Kiva crowdsourced microloan, receiving $4,000 from 91 lenders in 2 ½ weeks. The loan is for inventory, startup costs, a cash register (POS), and helium for the balloons. She is working with multiple vendors to source the goods. Clientele will include individuals and businesses.
The Party Town name was chosen during a discussion with her boyfriend in the car. She told him she wanted it to be a smaller version of Party City, and he asked, what about the word, town instead of city? So, the new event store name was decided.
“I like to build memories, fulfill community needs, provide excellent service, and everything needed for an event,” McLane said. “I will start with a few products on a small budget and will expand once we get going.” She plans to hire one full-time and potentially one or two part-time.
Some team members are interested in coming with her to the new store. Eventually, she hopes to expand to Iowa City, Waterloo, Des Moines, Dubuque, and Davenport.
She is working on her logo for the store. Once she has a website, customers should be able to buy online and pick up items in the store. Since she has many friends with small businesses, she wants to have a counter display for other business cards and to place her card at their business counters reciprocally. Her vision is to stay local and help others succeed.
Hours for Party Town, which is using a Kiva microloan for the project, will be limited originally, but she plans to open Tuesday through Saturday, closed Sunday, and Monday. Businesses will receive a 10% discount on commercial accounts.
Kiva microloans for up to $15,000 are crowdsourced at zero cost, zero interest, and lenders are reimbursed during the loan within three years. See www.newbo.co/kiva.
Until her shop opens, contact McLane by email at partytowncr1@gmail.com or on Facebook at Party Town CR.