You may not be aware of it, but Don Lasseter has helped you throw a party. How do we know that? He’s the franchise owner of six San Antonio-area Party City stores.
Don grew up in Tennessee and earned a business marketing degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He learned nearly every aspect of retail from being a buyer and setting up a digital advertising system for a drugstore chain to serving as a real estate manager developing territories for AutoZone.
“I was on the corporate side of retail and realized that I knew enough by that time to do my own thing,” he told us.
By then it was 1990, and Party City was a small, fledgling chain eager to expand nationwide. Don jumped on the franchisee opportunity and opened three Memphis-area stores.
“Party City was so small at that time, it was really a shot in the dark. But that’s what I liked most about it. I knew buying, I knew how to pick site locations, I knew how to manage stores. It felt right to me. I was able to really be involved in the creation of the brand,” he said.
Soon enough, Don was adding franchise locations in Houston and San Antonio. At one point, he owned 12 stores including locations in Midland and Laredo.
And do you remember when Party City suddenly became a major one-stop-shop for Halloween costumes and decorations? Don had a hand in that, too.
“I knew there was more we could do around Halloween, so I experimented with one of our stores,” he recalled. “We created a Halloween room and brought in more merchandise than usual. It just exploded. I worked with the founders of the company to bring the Halloween Superstore concept to stores nationwide.”
These days, Don has struck a balance between business and family life by settling into ownership of six local stores. He was working with a large accounting firm but felt that his business was just being shuffled around without much consideration.
“I wanted to work with someone who could give me more guidance; someone who would make sure that I was taking advantage of tax savings when I could,” he said. He found Steven Bankler, CPA, Ltd. last year. “It was a tough year of getting the books in order, but I feel good now. I feel that we’re on the right course.”
And with that peace of mind, Don can get back to helping his fellow San Antonians throw one heck of a party. Learn more about Party City at partycity.com
