Princess Kate’s Mom Carole Middleton Launches Party Decoration Business in the United States

Carole Middleton‘s party decoration business is officially coming stateside.

With the help of a cardboard cutout of herself wearing a Canadian tuxedo, the mom of Princess Kate announced this week that her company Party Pieces, which sells various party decorations and paraphernalia, will now be available in the United States at 39 ShopRite grocery store locations. She also visited several of those stores in New Jersey this week to check out the displays of her products, sharing the images on the brand’s Instagram account. 

The business, based out of Child’s Court Farm in Yattendon, Berkshire, employs 40 people and sends out 4,000 orders a week, including best-selling products such as treat stands, balloons, party hats, and table sets. This initial expansion outside of the United Kingdom marks just the beginning of “larger expansion plans” throughout the US, according to the brand’s official Instagram account. It also comes just one year after their successful launch of e-commerce in the UK.

Middleton first launched her company back in 1987 when she was looking for inspiration for her daughter’s fifth birthday and realized there was nothing out there that met her needs. She explained to the Daily Mail in an interview last year, “All I could find were basic clown plates. I realized there was a gap in the market for party ware that wasn’t too expensive and which looked good, so [I] decided to design my own. I took some prototypes to various High Street retailers and was turned away.” But she didn’t give up, and instead, started her business from her kitchen table in Berkshire and things quickly took off from there. “Thirty-five years later, I’m launching the Party Pieces collection. I suppose some things are worth the wait,” she said. “So rather than slowing down, this is an exciting new chapter for me. I think I’ll always be interested in party trends.” All three of her children have also worked for Party Pieces at some point, and Kate even helped her develop the first birthday and baby categories.

Announcing this next stage of her company, Middleton said, “It’s very exciting to see our Party Pieces Collection expanding into the US starting with Saker ShopRites, a leading retailer in New Jersey and family-owned business with a long history of commitment to the customers and communities its stores serve.” She added, “This is the culmination of great teamwork, and we’re happy to partner with Saker ShopRites for our initial launch.” Richard Saker, president and chief executive of Saker ShopRites, added, “We are thrilled to be the first US retail partner for British heritage brand Party Pieces. We know our customers are coming together again to mark special occasions in their lives and they want to make their parties spectacular.”

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