Business Ballooning For River West Party Supply Store On NYE
CHICAGO (CBS) -- This is the biggest day of the year for Doolin's, the River West party supply store founded in the 1950s.
Business is ballooning.
"We call this inflation station. It's where we're all standing around the tanks and we have the ribbons pre-cut to make it a little faster," said Christine Doolin, the co-owner of Doolin Amusement.
At the end of the day - a few hours before the end of the year, Doolin's will be responsible for the blowing up of about 7,000 balloons, some with air, some with helium.
"We have three or four tanks. We have nets in the ceiling so we can hold the balloons until they're ready for bagging."
WBBM: Do they ever pop in here?
"Sometimes but not often. Sometimes it'll pop in an elevator going up quickly. One might pop out of ten. We call it 'poppage,' and we try to accommodate to make sure we have extras."
The price of helium is less than it was a year ago, but a lot more than it was three or four years ago.