From: "Barrucci Sr., Donald" <Donald.Barrucci.Sr@fmr.com>
To: balloondeco@balloonhq.com
Subject: Pioneer 
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 08:58:27 -0400

You all were wondering if I was really going to let this discussion go by
without my 2 cents worth. My initial reaction was to let the subject die.

But There have been some statements that Pioneer is or is becoming a
monopoly and that it is bad for us. Maybe those making the statements can
tell us the rankings of the Balloon Companies. Accusations are made that
Pioneer is  or is nearly a monopoly but nowhere giving any facts to back up
this. Personally I would not be surprised if Pioneer is not the largest, but
I don't know the rankings nor do I know the approximate market share of
each. As far as the professional decorator goes I would certainly think that
Qualatex is the most used brand, but maybe not when you factor in all the
all businesses that sell balloons such as Wal-Mart and other discounters,
supermarkets, amusement facilities, etc., etc., etc.. And especially when
you factor in mylar balloons. Why is Pioneer the leader in the professional
decorator business? Because they have a quality product. Why are other
brands the leaders in discount stores and supermarkets. Because they are
cheaper.

Now here is a company that supports the balloon professional and made a
decision long ago to go after and retain that business. They spend tons of
money on supporting conventions, seminars, QBN, QBN chapters. They have
representatives in all parts of the country that do an outstanding job with
the local balloon professionals and local QBN chapters. On top of that they
make the best product and charge a premium price for their product. And for
the most part the professional decorator goes with the pioneer product. 

As far as latex goes we use Qualatex almost exclusively and occasionally use
BSA. We tried several other brands over the years are were not happy with
the results. Another reason is that Pioneer has always been there for us. We
started out 20 years ago. We contacted a helium distributor and set up a
relationship that still exists today. We had many other helium companies try
to get our business by offering a better price. But the company we dealt
with has never let us down. They've made every delivery and many on very
short notice. They have never let us down. We feel the same way about
Pioneer. They have never let us down. We can leave a job confident that the
balloons we did will look good for the duration of the event. I am sure
other brands are pretty good and other helium distributors are too. But I'm
staying with the ones that never let me down.

Don Barrucci, CBA
Parties of Woburn
Woburn MA