photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Megan McCune, manager of Love of Character, adjusts balloons that are part of a selfie station at the downtown Lawrence store on Feb. 23, 2023.

Megan McCune has a philosophy about parties.

“I don’t care if you are 2 or 200, everybody loves balloons,” said McCune, manager of the relatively new downtown gift boutique Love of Character. “When you see balloons, you know you are in for a good time.”

In fairness, when a 200-year-old sees a balloon, they may just be looking to steal oxygen any way they can. But, the point about balloons is still well taken. They can be a lot of fun, and Love of Character owns two stores in Wichita that have been proving it for years.

The boutique sells lots of items, but one of its specialties is intricate balloon decorations ranging from 10-foot flowing “balloon garlands” to smaller balloon bouquets and many creations in between.

“We do everything from table tops to a full wall of balloons,” McCune said. “We haven’t done any in Lawrence yet, but in Wichita a lot of the car dealerships and big businesses do big, big balloon displays.”

McCune is betting that trend will catch on soon enough in Lawrence. The shop, which opened late last year at 935 Massachusetts St., already has some sizable balloon orders for several St. Patrick’s Day parade floats and other such special occasions.

The balloons fit in well with Love of Character’s overall theme, which is to add some character to your party or special event. The shop sells lots of party decorations, both for kid and adult parties. Plus, the store sells a variety of gifts, because who goes to a party without a gift?

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Love of Character, 935 Massachusetts, is pictured on Feb. 23, 2023.

Gifts include a lot of items that are made by artists in the region, particularly women artists. The company was started about 10 years ago by Mary Billings, a KU alumna who was a Wichita accountant at the time. She eventually left her accounting career and started out to create a woman-owned business, and has made it a priority to support other small, women-owned businesses, McCune said.

Look for items ranging from handmade hair clips to locally produced greeting cards to artistic candles in the shape of various fruits. The store also has a children’s section that deals in some harder-to-find brands of toys, including the Danish toy brand Maileg, which features mice dolls that you can dress up in costumes ranging from a pajama-wearing dad to a royal family. (Look for Netflix to soon build a series around those royals as well.)

Finally, there’s also a section devoted to a different type of high society in Lawrence: sororities. McCune said the shop is trying to fill some of the void for sorority-branded items after the closing of the longtime downtown retailer Prairie Patches. Look for bags, hats, pens and a whole lot of other items with the Greek lettering of pretty much all the sororities at KU.

The sorority business also is a good one for the balloon business. The two Wichita Love of Character stores have traveled fairly far with the balloon business, doing a lot of work for organizations connected to the University of Arkansas, McCune said.

Various sorority gift items are shown at Love of Character on Feb. 23, 2023.

The company devotes quite a few resources to the balloon business. It has its own creative director, who is in charge of coming up with different balloon designs and also is responsible for training people throughout the company on how to build those designs. The Lawrence staff gets regular practice because the shop features its own selfie station that includes an elaborate balloon background. It changes frequently, with the current version being a red and pink-filled Valentine’s design, but McCune said it soon would change to a March Madness theme.

The store does two general types of balloon designs: those that are small enough that customers can order ahead and pick them up at the store, and others that are so large that they are built and assembled at the site of the party or special event.

Both, though, are meant to convey the same message, McCune said.

“We really just want to be that place that makes someone feel special,” she said.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Love of Character, 935 Massachusetts, is pictured on Feb. 23, 2023.