Jonathan’s Balloons at the Light Closet, the tiny but cheerful nook of a store carved out of the tudorish office building on Bellevue Avenue, has been a staple of the party-planning scene in Montclair for the last twenty years. Walking into the store is truly like entering a party in a closet. A walk-in closet. The space is positively festooned with balloons. The Closet, though, is about to throw a farewell party – temporarily at least.
Come November 1st, the store will shutter its doors while the space undergoes construction. When it reopens the walk-in closet will be reduced to just a closet. Jonathan plans to continue to run his business, but the store will operate out of what appears to be a closet within his former Closet. The space, actually his workshop for his lamp repair business, will now serve as the store for his balloon business as well.
The showroom, packed with all sorts of fanfare from toddler-size, shiny mylar balloons and plastic blow-up toys to party favors and latex balloons within balloons, will be stripped away as the space is converted into a hallway for offices at the rear of the building. Coldwell Banker, which occupies the office space surrounding Jonathan’s Balloons, is converting part of their large realty office into a separate office space available for leasing. The office, though, comes without a front door. That’s where Jonathan’s store comes in. His store is smack in between the new offices and the front door.
Jonathan, taking all the changes in stride, is content to operate out of his workshop, but the store is bound to lose some of its festive feel.
“All displays will have to go,” Jonathan said pointing to the rainbow-colored array of balloons plastering the walls and dangling from every corner.
At this time of year the showroom was stuffed with the world’s largest triangular candy corns, giant black cats, squiggly friendly ghosts, oversized spooky spiders and of course the requisite smiling pumpkin balloons.
But there were tons of others, too. Some never before seen like the colossal, bright pink, s-shaped sea horse for the sea horse lover in all of us.
“I like to offer things you don’t see everywhere else,” Jonathan said.
The assortment and service are sure to keep customers coming back long after the changes occur if his current business is any indication. On a random Tuesday afternoon when I visited the shop, Jonathan helped no less than 5 customers in a span of 20 minutes. But he also makes personal deliveries, riding through the streets of Montclair on his bike with balloons strapped to the back.
And there is one other thing Jonathan has that no one else has got. Magic balloons. I’m not quite sure how he does it, but his balloons seem to last indefinitely. I mean, float forever. Jonathan guarantees them for a week. But he told me, “It’s not uncommon for them to stay for two or three weeks.” If the conditions are right that is.
So if you want the party to last forever or, at least, a little bit longer, you know where to go. Well, after November.
