Come January, it’s raining beads at this Mardi Gras supply store

For the staff at Parties Start Here, the start of winter signifies the days getting longer. As Mardi Gras approaches, the party store stays open late, sometimes until 7 p.m., so krewes can stop by and pick out throws at the end of the workday.

The krewes somehow manage to turn even shopping into a party. It’s the first time many of the members will meet each other, so they’ll bring drinks and swap stories as they walk the aisles, selecting metallic beads, light-up footballs and life-size stuffed animals.

The store supplies Mardi Gras revelers from all over the South with goods, drawing customers from as nearby as Lafayette and New Orleans and as far as Shreveport, Alexandria, Galveston and Mobile.

To prepare for each season, store owner Nelson Maddox orders 10 40-foot long containers of beads and throws for the store. For perspective—each of those containers holds 1,500-4,000 boxes of throws.

The Friday before the Spanish Town parade is the biggest day of the year for Maddox and his team. That’s when you’ll spot them loading pallets of beads onto customers’ trailers. The store lives and dies by the profit made that day—a good customer for Mardi Gras will spend as much on their own celebratory shopping list as the store will make in all of May, June or July, Maddox says.

But fortunately for Maddox, the party doesn’t end on Mardi Gras day. Because less than three weeks later, it’s time for the Wearin’ of the Green parade.

“As soon as Mardi Gras is over,” he says, “everything turns green.” Find Parties Start Here on Facebook.

Click here to go to our Mardi Gras headquarters.

This article was originally published in the February 2017 issue of 225 Magazine.