Confetti District Opens, Creates Valentine’s Day Trinkets
February 9, 2021 - Downtown
The business, Confetti District, founded and solidified during a global pandemic, produces decorations for celebrations and events of all kinds. Courtesy Images: Confetti District.
By: Ricardo Delgado - Staff Intern, San Antonio Sentinel
Many businesses and their owners have withered in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, untold moments and culture trying together communities gone with them as they struggle to keep their heads above water and their accounts in the black.
Few business owners can boast expansion during widespread suffering, the majority likely balking at the idea of starting another business entirely. Not Andrew Lopez.
Confetti District, founded and solidified during a global pandemic, produces decorations for celebrations and events of all kinds, going further than the props offered through Lopez’s other business, Dru Photography, a photography and photo booth business capturing moments on camera at events and celebrations.
Equipped with a degree in graphic design and five years’ worth of work from Dru Photography, Lopez ventured into unchartered territory during a pandemic and built a second, growing business to accompany an already established one. From Facebook groups to local markets, the groundswell of support translated to sales and success.
Neither the idea nor the process of the business came into fruition quickly, but the excess of time burdened on Lopez and many others by COVID-19 enabled him to finally kickstart an idea years in the making.
“I started last Fiesta when it was canceled, [making] little signs that said 'Fiesta en mi casita,' and I just made that out of the blue. Then right away was Mother's Day, so I think Mother's Day kind of took it off, and then I did Father's Day. [...] I've been wanting to make stuff for First Friday for years, but I can never find a time to do it, and now in the pandemic, I found time to do all this.”
Lopez says the idea had been on the back burner for two years, with potential associates and plans in the wait, all derailed by COVID-19.
“I just kind of got tired of not promoting the side business as much,” Lopez says. “I decided to separate the two businesses, and that way I can go full throttle with Confetti District, having all this fun stuff. It's basically like an extension of the photo booth props, basically. [...] I'll at least have two different businesses to associate it with and to include both of them, so that way they know photography is [the] photo booth and then Confetti District is basically everything else.”
Lopez himself is not skilled in woodwork, but he does customize the machine’s output, a process he already dabbled in with some of the props for his photo booth, which he also made with his wood-cutting machine. The more intricate wood-working he implemented beforehand was done with outside help, and any wood products he made himself were comparatively simple to the designs his machine helps him make now.
“I think I bought it back in 2015 — it was a startup company called the Glowforge, and it took me about two or three years before I even got it,” Lopez says. “I just send it to the machine, and the machine cuts it for me, [...] then I paint or add to it or tweak [them] and do stuff like that.”
"We know not everyone, especially with the pandemic going on, [has] a lot of money to be spending, so we want to be able to sell things that are not too expensive but not too low in price, just because a lot of work does go into it.” - Serina Orozco
Andrew Lopez, the owner of Confetti District says he tries to customize his individual products as much as possible, including this variation of the Bernie Sanders political meme. Courtesy Image: Confetti District
Serina Orozco, a 22-year-old assistant of Lopez, says the introduction of a new tool introduces new challenges and new ways to collaborate.
“[The machine] gives us issues sometimes, so we'll have to [think] on our feet right away,” Orozco says. “'Oh, this didn't cut out right, so what can we do to fix this so we don't waste our product.' It's trial and error to get everything into a smooth routine. We have [an] assembly line sometimes, He'll be in charge of cutting, then we'll take turns gluing or painting.”
Lopez envisions a line of products to adorn homes for many holidays and seasons such as the upcoming Easter and spring seasons. He wants to return to the Bandera Market with his products at some point in the future and also plans to set up a pop-up stand on the weekend of Valentine’s Day. He even floats the idea of a delivery service for his merchandise, depending on the feedback from his Confetti District Facebook group.
More customizable creations could be on the horizon for Lopez, but he intends to stabilize his business before endeavoring into more complex commissions.
“At the moment I just want to stick to stuff that I make [that I can personalize],” Lopez says. “So, if I make a certain sign that says 'Love', or whatever the case may be, then I can add their names at the bottom and stuff like that. I'm not against doing custom [products], because I do want to do it, maybe in the future. I just want to get my feet a bit more wet on all the things that I'm doing and kind of get this going.”
Orozco says they have the community in mind with some of their more local-themed ornaments. She adds that they are keeping the community in mind as they create the pricing as well.
“We know not everyone, especially with the pandemic going on, [has] a lot of money to be spending, so we want to be able to sell things that are not too expensive but not too low in price, just because a lot of work does go into it,” Orozco says. “It's all handmade hand-painted and whatnot. We also incorporate a lot of Spurs colors. We have the old school colors: the teal, the orange and the pink. We do a lot of taco bean stuff. Fiesta is a big thing we try to incorporate into everything.”
The challenges of starting a separate business were more difficult than Lopez could have anticipated, despite his Christmas product line going so well. He adds he can still fall back on making birthday and holiday signs and the connections he’s made should he stumble, but still desires to place firmer roots in the community.
“I'm not used to being at events and not having my photo booth or covering as a photographer,” Lopez says “So, it's different. I think I had it figured out, and then I do it I'm like, 'Well no, I still need some help.' I need to expand a little bit more because I kind of relied maybe too much on my Facebook friends or Instagram friends. I need to see how I can broaden that and expand that throughout the city.”
Ricardo Delgado transferred to Texas State University at San Marcos to study journalism and minor in political science. He expects to graduate in the spring of 2021. Email him at reporter@sasentinel.com