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Party Supply Stores in Los Angeles & Piñatas

9 hand-picked Los Angeles spots

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Something changed for LA party shopping in 2025: Party City wound down its US stores, and with them went the default answer to “where do I get balloons?” for a lot of Angeleno parents. The good news is that Los Angeles never really needed the chains. It has something considerably better, and it has had it for decades.

A few blocks of East Olympic Boulevard, just south-east of downtown, make up the Piñata District – a dense run of family-run shops selling papier-mâché piñatas, balloons, decorations and candy at prices that make the old chain stores look silly. Around it sits the rest of the downtown party-supply trade, and scattered across the city are the specialists: a balloon warehouse in Glendale, a Melrose institution, a pottery of party goods on Wall Street. Here’s where we send people.

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The Piñata District on East Olympic

Joker Party Supply

1512 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021

A family-run wholesale and retail operation that has been on Olympic for the better part of twenty-five years, and the most complete single stop in the district. Alongside the piñatas and candy you’ll find balloon arches, columns, organic garlands and bouquets, plus decorations, tableware, backdrops and the general event miscellany that makes a theme hang together. They handle helium tank refills and rentals too, which is worth knowing if you’re inflating at home. Note the hours – they keep wholesale-market times and close early.

Visit website — Joker Party Supply (opens in a new tab)

Navarro’s Party Supply

1258 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021

One of the anchors of the district and a good first stop if you want to see everything at once: decorations, piñatas, balloons, toys and gifts under one roof. They open early – properly early, before seven on weekends – which is a genuine gift if you’re assembling a party on the morning of. As with most shops on this stretch, the staff will happily talk you through what pairs with what if you arrive with a theme and no plan.

One Stop Piñata

1251 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Small, friendly, and exactly what the name promises. The draw here is the piñata wall itself – the district's piñatas are papier-mâché rather than the styrofoam-cored things the chains sold, which means they hang properly, take a beating and burst the way a piñata should. Shoppers consistently single out the staff here as unusually hospitable, and they’ll help you get an awkward, enormous purchase into a normal-sized car.

Piñatas Place

1224 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Part toy store, part party shop, part candy counter, which makes it an efficient stop when you need the piñata and the things that go inside it in one transaction. Worth a browse even if you came for something else – the district rewards wandering, and the shops along this block each carry slightly different character licences and shapes, so the thing you couldn’t find two doors down is often sitting here.

Fiesta Mex

1246 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021

A long-standing Olympic Boulevard fixture with a deep bench of piñatas, Mexican candy, decorations and themed goods. The staff have a reputation for patience and for actually hunting down what you ask for rather than pointing vaguely at an aisle. They keep long weekday hours and there’s a second location down in Lynwood if you’re coming from the south.

Downtown Party-Supply Row

Carrusel Party Supply

902 E 9th St, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Just north of the Piñata District proper, on East 9th, Carrusel is a well-stocked general party store that covers the full range – balloons, tableware, decorations and themed kits – without the wholesale-market opening hours that catch people out further east. A sensible option if you want one shop that can handle an entire party list rather than assembling it across four storefronts.

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Classic Party Supplies

807 S Wall St, Los Angeles, CA

A downtown standby on South Wall Street, in the thick of the wholesale district. Classic is the sort of shop where the stock is stacked high and the pricing reflects that you’re buying where the trade buys. Best approached with a list and a little patience – it isn’t a boutique experience, but for volume tableware, balloons and decorations it’s hard to beat on price.

Specialists Worth the Detour

Vine American Party Store

5969 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038

A Melrose Avenue institution and the most convenient serious party shop for anyone on the Westside or in Hollywood who doesn’t fancy the downtown trip. They keep normal retail hours seven days a week, including Sundays, which alone makes them valuable when you realize on a Sunday morning that you have no candles. Good range across balloons, decorations, costumes and tableware.

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LA Balloons

1422 Gardena Ave, Glendale, CA 91204

Not a general party shop but a 12,000-square-foot balloon warehouse in Glendale, and the place to go when balloons are the entire point. Originally Conwin’s Balloons & More and in business more than twenty-five years, they stock thousands of latex and foil designs plus all the hardware for building arches, columns and organic installations. This is where a lot of the city’s professional balloon decorators buy, so if you’re attempting an ambitious garland yourself, start here and ask questions.

Visit website — LA Balloons (opens in a new tab)

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Why did we pick these Party Shops in Los Angeles?

We wanted shops that are open, independent and actually worth a drive, and after Party City’s closures that meant rebuilding the list from scratch rather than trusting older guides. Every address here we checked against current listings, and we’ve deliberately clustered most of them into a few walkable blocks so a single trip can cover a whole party.

The Piñata District dominates the list because it genuinely is the best party shopping in the city – cheaper, better made and considerably more fun than the alternative. The other shops earn their places by covering what the district doesn’t: convenient hours, Westside access, and a specialist balloon supply for anyone attempting something ambitious. If there’s a neighborhood shop your family swears by, let us know and we’ll pay it a visit.

What Can I Expect to Find at These Shops?

Piñatas in every shape imaginable, from cartoon characters to donkeys to whatever is currently popular with eight-year-olds, made from papier-mâché rather than styrofoam. Balloons in bulk, in both latex and foil, with helium refills available at some shops and full arch-building supplies at others. Tableware, decorations, themed kits, banners, candy, party favors and toys. Prices skew wholesale, so quantities are often larger and cheaper than you’re used to.

What you should not expect is a polished big-box retail experience. Many of these shops keep wholesale-market hours, some close early or shut on Sundays, and a few are cash-friendly places where the stock is piled rather than merchandised. Bring a list, bring a car with a decent boot, and give yourself more time than you think you need – the browsing is half the point.

Tips for Shopping the Piñata District

Go early. Several shops on Olympic open before seven and start winding down mid-afternoon, so a morning trip catches everything open and the parking manageable. Weekday mornings are calmer than weekends.

Walk the block before you buy. The shops sit within a few hundred yards of each other and their stock overlaps only partly, so the character piñata that’s sold out in one place is frequently hanging in the next. Bring cash as a backstop, measure your car before falling in love with a six-foot unicorn, and if you need helium, call ahead – not every shop fills tanks, and the ones that do can run out.

Party Supply Stores in Los Angeles & Piñatas — FAQs

Is there still a Party City in Los Angeles?

No. Party City wound down its US retail operations and its remaining stores closed during the early months of 2025, including the many locations across Los Angeles County. California had more Party City stores than any other state, so the closures left a real gap – but the independent shops in this guide were always better for piñatas, custom balloon work and bulk buying, and they're still here. If you come across a Party City listing that appears to still be trading, call before you make the trip. Party City is starting to come back in 2026, but as a shop-in-shop inside Staples stores rather than its own standalone locations — there’s no confirmed timeline yet for when, or whether, that reaches Los Angeles.

Where is the Piñata District in Los Angeles?

It runs along East Olympic Boulevard just south-east of downtown, near South Central Avenue, roughly between the 1200 and 1500 blocks. Several of the shops in this guide – Joker Party Supply, Navarro’s, One Stop Piñata, Piñatas Place and Fiesta Mex – sit within a short walk of each other on that stretch, which is what makes it worth the trip rather than any single store. Street parking exists but fills up, and the district is at its calmest on weekday mornings.

Where can I buy balloons in bulk in Los Angeles?

For serious quantities, LA Balloons in Glendale is the specialist – a 12,000-square-foot warehouse stocking thousands of latex and foil balloons along with the frames, adhesives and accessories needed to build arches, columns and organic garlands. Several Piñata District shops also sell balloons in bulk and some, including Joker Party Supply, handle helium tank refills and rentals. If you’re inflating at home, ask about tank sizing when you buy, since a standard tank goes considerably less far than most people expect.

Why buy a piñata from the Piñata District instead of a big store?

Price and construction, mainly. The piñatas sold along East Olympic are typically larger and cheaper than chain-store equivalents, and crucially they’re made from papier-mâché rather than built around a styrofoam core. That matters in practice: a papier-mâché piñata hangs properly, survives a queue of children taking turns, and bursts satisfyingly at the end rather than denting sadly. You’ll also find far more variety, including shapes and characters the chains never stocked.

Where can I find party supplies near me in Los Angeles without driving downtown?

If downtown isn’t convenient, Vine American Party Store on Melrose Avenue covers the Westside and Hollywood with normal retail hours seven days a week, and LA Balloons in Glendale is the specialist if balloons are the whole point. Otherwise the Piñata District on East Olympic remains the most complete single trip in the city.

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