What Windy City Novelties does

Windy City Novelties is a Vernon Hills (Chicago), Illinois-based online wholesaler and retailer of party supplies, glow products, LED novelties, and seasonal decorations, founded in 1983 and operating as a privately held company with 11–50 employees. The company runs a Shopify-powered e-commerce storefront (windycitynovelties.com) carrying an extensive catalog dominated by 932+ LED SKUs spanning barware, jewelry, toys, hats, decorative lighting, and themed accessories (e.g., multi-mode LED Halloween cups with replaceable AG13 batteries, 8-mode LED controllers), alongside glow sticks, Halloween/Christmas/Oktoberfest seasonal collections, toys, redemption prizes, vending products, imprintable items, and a niche night-golf category.

The business model is hybrid DTC plus wholesale: individual consumers and event planners purchase low-ticket items ($0.99–$55.95) under a pay-as-you-go unit-pricing scheme with a $99 free-shipping threshold and tiered volume discounts, while retail stores, arcades, carnival operators, and vending companies buy pre-packaged 12–144 count displays and bulk novelty packs for resale or redemption. Distribution is exclusively online through the Shopify storefront with global reach, supported by email capture (10% off first order), an active social footprint (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter/X), and SEO-led acquisition around long-tail seasonal search queries.

In October 2024, Windy City Novelties acquired U.S. Toy Company from Grandview—a 70+ year family-owned novelty and toy supplier—to extend its product portfolio and dual retail/online presence while keeping the acquired division independently operated. The company claims over 1 million customers served historically, and its revenue model consists entirely of one-time transactional sales across consumer and B2B channels, with no disclosed subscriptions, software, or service revenue.

Name

Windy City Novelties

Legal name

Windy City Novelties, Inc.

Website

https://windycitynovelties.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Windy City Novelties is a Chicago-area, privately held online wholesaler and retailer founded in 1983, selling party supplies, LED novelties, glow products, and seasonal decorations to individual consumers, event planners, and retail/vending operators through a Shopify storefront.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Vernon Hills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. E-commerce Retail Sales: Direct-to-consumer sales through the company's Shopify e-commerce platform at windycitynovelties.com, selling party supplies, LED products, glow novelties, and seasonal decorations to individual consumers and event planners.
2. Wholesale and Bulk Orders: Bulk and wholesale ordering capabilities with unit pricing for retail displays, vending items, and redemption prizes. Products sold in packs ranging from individual units to 144-count packs with discounted per-unit pricing.
3. Retail Display Sales: Pre-packaged retail display units containing multiple units of themed products (e.g., 12-count Halloween LED wand displays, 48-count glow jewelry displays) designed for retail柜台 placement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Windy City Novelties is an online retailer and wholesaler of party supplies, decorations, glow products, LED novelties, toys, seasonal items, redemption prizes, and vending goods sold through its Shopify storefront. The catalog spans 932+ LED SKUs, Halloween/Christmas/Oktoberfest/birthday lines, night golf specialty products, and imprintable items, sold both individually to consumers and in bulk packs to retail and vending businesses.

Product overview

Windy City Novelties is an online party supply retailer specializing in theme party supplies, glow products, and novelties. The company operates primarily as an e-commerce platform selling a comprehensive portfolio organized around core categories: Party Supplies & Decorations (including balloons, tableware, and floor runners), Glow Products (glow sticks, necklaces, bracelets), LED Products (light-up cups, wands, jewelry, barware, wearables), Toys & Games (including LED toys, fidget toys, figures), Halloween/Christmas/Oktoberfest seasonal supplies, Redemption Prizes and Vending items for commercial customers, Birthday Decorations, Night Golf specialty products, and Imprintable Items for custom branding. The company recently expanded through the acquisition of US Toy Company (October 2024) to further diversify its product offerings and market presence in retail and online channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Party Supplies & Decorations

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 Million Happy Customers served

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• U.S. Toy CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2024Windy City Novelties acquired U.S. Toy Company, a family-owned novelty and toy supplier with over seven decades of history, in October 2024. The transaction aims to expand Windy City Novelties' product portfolio and market presence in both retail and online channels while maintaining the independent operation of each division.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Amazon: Amazon is the dominant general-merchandise marketplace and competes with WCN across nearly every novelty, glow, and LED SKU at often lower price points. Although not a specialty retailer, Amazon sets baseline pricing and discovery expectations for the categories WCN competes in.
• Walmart: Walmart's party-supply department spans Halloween, birthday, and themed décor both in-store and on Walmart.com, competing for the same mass-market consumer party budget. As an incumbent with broader assortment, it does not specialize in WCN's LED/novelty niche but caps the addressable share at the consumer end.
• Dollar Tree: Dollar Tree operates a national chain of discount stores selling party supplies, novelties, glow products, and seasonal décor at $1-$5 price points. Its expanding assortment and Family Dollar merger add a party/novelty SKU footprint that overlaps with WCN's lowest-price tier.

Direct peers

• Party City: Party City is a specialty party-supply retailer offering themed decorations, balloons, costumes, and novelties - a near-identical product set to WCN. Although Party City historically emphasized physical retail, its online channel competes head-to-head for the same consumer party-planning occasions (Halloween, birthdays, themed events).
• Oriental Trading: Oriental Trading is the largest US direct competitor in party supplies, novelties, and bulk/novelty items, serving both consumers and B2B (school, church, redemption). Its product breadth in glow, LED, and party favors maps directly onto Windy City Novelties' catalog and customer segments.
• Spencer's / Spencer Gifts: Spencer's is a mall-based specialty retailer of novelties, gag gifts, costumes, and seasonal décor including a strong Halloween program. Its mix of adult-tinged novelties, costumes, and seasonal decorations overlaps with WCN's Halloween and themed-party assortment, and it competes for the same party-shopper wallet.
• Carnival Savers: Carnival Savers is a long-running online retailer of carnival, party, and prize/redemption novelties including glow products and bulk vending supplies. Its product mix, bulk-pricing model, and B2B redemption-prize focus closely match Windy City Novelties' vending and redemptions category.
• HalloweenCostumes.com (Fun.com): Fun.com / HalloweenCostumes.com is a vertically integrated online retailer of costumes, Halloween décor, and themed accessories. Its seasonal depth, exclusive product development, and direct-to-consumer e-commerce model are highly comparable to WCN's seasonal strategy, particularly the Halloween program.

Emerging players

• Beistle Company: Beistle is a 100+ year old US manufacturer/distributor of party and Halloween novelties (tableware, decorations, costume accessories). It overlaps with WCN as a long-tail party goods supplier and increasingly sells direct-to-consumer online, mirroring WCN's B2B/B2C dual motion.

Regional players

• Stumps Party / StumpsProm.com: Stumps is a US party supplies retailer (with historical strength in school/prom/event programs) selling themed décor and novelties online. Its assortment and event-focused use cases overlap with WCN's party-supply line, and it serves a complementary B2B-school/auction segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WC_Novelties
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/WindyCityNovelties
• Facebookfacebook.com/WCNovelties
• Instagraminstagram.com/wcnovelties
• Pinterestin.pinterest.com/wcnovelties

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Windy City Novelties