The Party Corner issues last call

After 30 years in business, The Party Corner in Millsboro will be closing its doors.

Owner Judy Henninger said the store will remain open through the end of the year. Nearly all merchandise in the store is 50 percent off - educational books are 75 percent off - and includes 61 patterns of party supplies for birthday parties, graduation parties and holidays, plus supplies for weddings. Among the patterns on sale for kids’ parties are pirates, Minions, Angry Birds, Avengers, Sesame Street and NFL teams.

While The Party Corner is closing, the print shop also located at 208 Main St., owned by Henninger’s husband, will remain open. 

At 80 years old, Henninger has lost none of her spark, despite a leg injury that is now forcing her to go to physical therapy.

She’s proudly old school, right down to the typewriter she keeps in her office. When it comes to those who work for her, she hesitates to use the word “employee,” and prefers to think of them as friends. But time marches on, and the changes that have come since the store opened have finally caught up. 

Henninger said, “The internet finally killed me. Internet and dollar stores, but internet more than anything.”

She said she couldn’t compete with the prices of the dollar stores and the convenience of the internet.

“I’m not a lover of the internet. I’m old. I’m dug in,” she said matter-of-factly. 

She’s become entrenched in Delaware since she and her husband, Paul, moved here nearly 40 years ago when they bought their first lot in Long Neck. Besides the print shop, Paul also runs a charter boat, Amethyst, out of Indian River Inlet. They’ve been married 61 years now. 

“We’ve become locals; we’ll never become natives,” she said.

Paul had run a print shop in their native Pennsylvania for many years and brought the business with them to Delaware. The Party Corner got its start through the print shop, where Judy was helping print wedding invitations. She said the girls coming in would also need plates, cups and napkins, so she began selling them herself.

“It started out selling paper plates in solid colors, which led to holidays and birthdays. It was the holidays that led to the teachers, and the upstairs was packed to the nines with educational stuff the teachers could use in classrooms,”Henninger said.

For weddings, she said the store would advise on what patterns and items to use, although that has changed as people have begun just doing things themselves. Over time, the rumor mill started circulating about the store going out of business, and Henninger said that’s when she knew she had problems.

“When word of mouth goes ‘They’re closing,’ it becomes closed instantly. You can’t reverse it. They had this store closing, which didn’t help,”Henninger said. 

She said she and her husband own the building, which is nice as they didn’t have to worry about paying rent. Henninger said the building is also up for sale.

When the store started in 1989, downtown Millsboro was a very different place than it is today, she said. 

“This town has changed drastically. The sidewalks had people walking constantly. Across the street was a Montgomery Ward’s. Donut Connection was on the end, ”Henninger said. “This town was moving. People were around. It was busy. But then Long Neck and 113 just blew up. It just got harder and harder and harder. Thirty years, you have a lot of changes that you can’t fight.”

Henninger said she’s not planning to retire; she plans to work with her husband in the print shop, which she’s always done. She said they’re not the kind of people who play golf and tennis; they prefer to work. Henninger said her fondest memory of the store is the people who came through the doors. For many of them, she’s experienced their weddings, their kids’ weddings, births and deaths.

“The warmth of the customers and the fun and the friendliness, because that’s what our store is all about,” Henninger said. “I’m going to miss the customers. Blowing up balloons, watching kids’ faces, that sort of thing.”