Bartz’s the Party Store

Plus: They have party supplies. A lot of specialty items for unique themes!
Not so plus:
They’re a bit pricey.
It’s kinda dark in here, and a bit musty, and the employees aren’t particularly helpful (even when you’re the only one in the store).
But, I don’t care all too much because I’m too busy thinking about whatever party I’m buying supplies for… party on, Wayne!

Did you realize this is one of the few (very few) year round places in town to get costumes and costume stuff? I didn’t either, till I tried to find a Halloween USA in July. They’ve got lots of stuff. They have party in the USA supplies if you’re trying to be like Miley Cyrus. They’ve got blue wigs if you’re trying to be Amanda Bynes. They’ve got makeup if you want to look like a cracked out Lindsey Lohan. Anyway, they’ve got costumes if you’re trying to be someone you’re not (like sober, for Miley, Amanda, or Lindsey. BURN). Check em out, and make your mother proud.

I find Bartz fun to browse in. Its inventory is quite comprehensive for party goods. You will sometimes find surprising stuff there, and sometimes surprisingly cheap stuff. Does get crowded around Halloween and sells out of stuff from time to time. Kinda shabby but kinda charming in a shabby way. Its a place to get ideas and inspiration for fun events.

PURCHASED: Fake Parking Tickets
THE SETUP: My wife was in Chicago for training with a co-​worker. The co-​worker has a company car that was left at our house for the trip. They left the keys in case I needed to move it out of the drive way. I left it on the street, placed the neon orange fake ticket in the wiper blades.
REACTION: When they got back to our house my wife immediately is like «did you leave the car on the street overnight?» (Tosa has night parking rules.) I’m like «oh crap I forgot!». They ran down to the car and started reading the ticket and realized it was fake. Fun times.
PIZZA HAT: A felt pepperoni pizza that you wear on your head is available here.

Need a bunch of seasonal crap that you will probably throw out right after the party? Bartz’s is your place!
Ever wonder where you can get that Captain’s hat for that boat party?
Need some Oktoberfest table cloths or Mardi Gras beads with little beer mugs on them? Again, go to Bartz’s.
Fortunately for me, Bartz’s is very close to my house. It’s very easy to be spontaneous when I don’t have to drive half way across town to pickup some last minute St. Patrick’s Day garb or New Year’s doo dads. I believe I would think differently about the place if it were less convenient for me. The issue is primarily with the workers. Not typically helpful on a good day, the service is downright crappy when they are busy. I believe that their primary objective it to congregate away from the customers, talk about nothing, avoid eye contact, and when you ask for something, tell you «I’ll check in back.» At that point, they disappear for a while and eventually come back to tell you that they are out of it. Aside from using the cash register, they are not much help.
As far as their selection goes, it’s pretty respectable. In general, a wide selection of miscellaneous seasonal and situational crap you will not find anywhere else. Prices are fair, but lets face it, all this stuff is built to have an operational life of about two hours.
Bartz’s excels at Halloween, which apparently at this location, is all year long…

Do you need a piñata? Or a pirate costume? A grass skirt? Then Bartz’s is your place. Bartz’s has a pretty good selection packed in on their shelves, so if you want more selection than what you’ll find at Target, you should come here.
The interior is a little gloomy, and it isn’t readily apparent where to find items you need without doing a few laps around the store, but it works. Service was efficient, but not exactly friendly.
I like that they’re independently owned, and it is nice that it can be found in kind of a random spot on North Avenue. I’d be interested to check them out around Halloween and see what they’ve got to offer.

Literally blocks from home, Bartz’s is our go to for party supplies, decorations and costume needs. Given that we have a big Unilocal Party Cruise coming up, hubs and I needed some gear so we headed over.
Let me start out by saying that your experience in this Bartz’s (and probably all the others) will vary based on how close you are to Halloween. Visiting in March? The staff will be bored out of their skulls but will answer questions if you ask them. Near Halloween? Woooo — they’re a surly lot! So shop early for your costumes, because the 17 year old kid behind the counter is really sick of getting everyone those stupid «Scream» masks, ok?
Anyway, Bartz’s is a great store if you need decorations off-​season (Oktoberfest stuff in July, for example) because they never change the stock. Ever.
Today’s experience was pretty good and typical of most visits. They had some stuff we needed (hard to find tablecloth clips) and not others (coconut shell bra — sorry, fellas). It is fun to walk through the aisles here, as you never know what you’ll find.

When I was a kid, a dorky, pudgy, sticky-​fingered kid, I was constantly begging my mother to take me to Bartz’s. I thought it was the coolest place in the world. They were, in 1996, *the* place to get beanie babies. I would go in and pick out 1 every week, hopefully one that no other kid had. On the drive home I’d think about how cool it would be to work there. Every person coming in is throwing a party! What a fun place to be. These people must be so excited!
So, 15 years later, I’ve realized that the people working there don’t have the same feeling about working at a party supply store, and that’s cool.
The stock is varied, depending on the party supplies you’re looking for.
If you need Chinese New Year decorations, boy, they have you covered.
Bowling party? Not so much.
If you need a last minute disposable costume, they have a decent selection.
I’ll continue coming here, because at least it’s not a huge, big box chain.
(Also, to keep my dorky, inner child happy.)

Bartz’s! What is up home dizzle? So I was really disappointed when you didn’t have my bronze paint this last Saturday, and I had to go as the «homeless» fonz, instead of the bronze fonz, not happy. So unhappy that I took a star away. But, I still dig you, because you have cool sombreros, lots of cool costume stuff, and large selection of fake mustaches. I now know to call ahead way in advance to make sure you have my bronzer the next time.

This place is a hoot!
I guess I’m so used to doing my party supply shopping at corporate giants like Party City, that it feels odd to go into a more local, independently owned store like Bartz’s. Odd, yet refreshing.
The place has a bit of a dusty feel to it and the employees are a tad bit on the relaxed side (read: not so eager to help), but they carry pretty much every possible party supply /​event planning /​décor /​costume thing you could be looking for. It is on the pricey side, but since they are the only party store in town, I guess they can charge what they want!
I found this place thanks to Rachel F, and we did some shopping here for the big Unilocaler party that happened last week. (Yay Brew City Bash!) We found what we needed and more (ie: table cloths, big bowls, crêpe paper, photobooth accessories, and helium; plus George Washington and Abe Lincoln masks).
Since Unilocal is all about supporting local, I’m going to go ahead and say that Bartz’s is A-​OK. But if you do have time to plan ahead and if you’re on a budget, you may want to do some online comparisons too! Happy partying!
**One more thing to note: Bartz’s accepts Visa but not American Express!

Something I’ve noticed:
Milwaukee is not replete with party stores.
It’s true. Look all over the country and it’s «Party City» and «Card and Party Giant» and «Mega Mall of Balloons and Party Awesomesauce» and then, the independently owned guys.
Milwaukee? Not so much.
What we do have are four Bartz’s (s) — plural — a family-​ish owned chain of party stores. With locations in ‘Tosa, the Falls, Waukesha, and Greenfield, they’re convenient-​ish. And they carry all sorts of stuff… balloons, theme party accoutrement, plasticware, costumes, wrapping paper, helium tanks… you know, the requisite party stuff.
That said, I do have two sticking points about this particular Bartz’s location that keep me from doling out the «Yay! I’m a Fan!» star-​age:
1. Service
2. Pricing
So… I’ll start with service. I’ve not experienced bad service at this location… no no. It’s simply lackluster and somewhat apathetic. Things take awhile, and no one really *seems* to care. I mean, to be fair, it’s generally high school kids at the helm, but still. Questions? Sometimes you won’t get an answer. Where’s a thing? It’s over that way. It just… well, the kids working generally remind me of the stereotypical high school employee working at a gas station character you may encounter in any number of feature films. Ya dig?
Pricing: Some items are priced super fairly, while others? Not quite so much. It’s like I’ll spot a deal on crêpe paper only to be disappointed by the inflated price points of their wrapping papers. Also: it’s worth mentioning that lots of things in this store seem old. Not everything, mind you, but some things… they’re priced high and they look as though they may have been sitting on the shelf since 1995.
Overall, this is an okay place to snag party supplies, and I’m certainly a repeat customer to this ‘Tosa location if only for its proximity to my abode. That said, do some shopping around if you’ve got some time… you might be able to score better deals on specific items elsewhere. You also might end up working with more ‘eager’ employees.