Gags Unlimited closing after 44 years

The fun and games are ending for a long-running party store in Winnipeg.

Gags Unlimited is shutting its doors at the end of September after 44 years in business.

The store sells party supplies, Halloween costumes and masks, along with other novelties.

Owner Cheryl Wiebe said she’s closing up shop because of a series of issues spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation.

“My business is a fun business – and people are spending less on fun,” Wiebe told CTV News Saturday.

Wiebe bought Gags Unlimited about nine and a half years ago, and moved the store from Osborne Village to Hamilton House on Henderson Highway in late 2021.

“Some people speculate that it was the move here that hurt the business, but it actually really wasn’t,” Wiebe said. “We tried TV promotion; we tried radio, social media… It’s really, I think, financing and what COVID did to the economy.”

She used the skyrocketing price of helium, which she said is five times more expensive than it was nine years ago, as an example.

“Somebody used to maybe buy 10 or 20 balloons – now they buy three because it’s ridiculously expensive,” she explained. “We can’t charge people for a balloon and helium in the amount it actually increased. Like, we can’t even make a profit on that anymore.”

She said many smaller items, like hand buzzers and whoopee cushions, simply don’t have a high profit margin either.

Wiebe described owning Gags Unlimited as a dream come true and said closing the store is devastating.

“I’ve been listening to some of the best stories because people really do support Gags Unlimited.”

Since announcing the upcoming closure, Wiebe said customers have been popping in to remind her of parties and other events she helped with.

And that’s what Wiebe said she’s going to miss the most – meeting really good people and helping out charitable organizations.

“It’s magic – doing an event is magic.”

Wiebe is selling remaining stock at the store, while other aspects of the business are up for sale online.

Gags Unlimited’s event rentals – including two dunk tanks, a delivery van, and carnival games – are listed on Facebook Marketplace.

Gags Unlimited is closing on September 29.