“My father was an entrepreneur,” explains Party Central owner Frank Gerami, III. “He was in business for himself his whole life. “Party Central started in the mid 1990’s,” adds Gerami. “My dad had an oilfield background, and he and his partners sold their oilfield company. He dabbled in some other businesses for a while. Then he decided to act on his feeling that there was a need in the market for an event rental place.”
Original owner Frank Gerami, II passed away in 2020. He began his rental business journey a quarter of a century before that. Having experience renting equipment, he expected the business to focus on serving the oil field... But that would change. “He was exploring equipment rental opportunities,” says Gerami. “But at some point, he saw opportunity in a similar but different direction… He landed in the event space. Party Central would rent tents, tables, chairs, and stuff like that. That’s how it all got started.”
With over 80 employees, Party Central serves a diverse customer base. They work with event planners, wedding planners, and venues. They also serve nonprofits, sporting events, and corporate functions of all sizes. “We also do a good bit of rental business with the oil field,” shares Gerami. “They host gumbo cook-offs, golf tournaments, skeet shoots, and crawfish boils. Too many things to list.”
Gerami knows event planning means preparing for anything. A customer might call and already know exactly what they want. One might have an idea of how many people they’re having and some hint of an idea of what they’re trying to achieve. Regardless, Party Central will provide options, give advice, or create an entire event. Some clients will call the day of the event. Larger events involve weeks, sometimes months of planning.
“We do site visits,” explains Gerami. “We recommend certain layouts based on the flow of the people attending. We consider the look and the feel that they’re trying to create... and we present and propose many different options. “We will get involved as much or as little as the customer wants,” laughs Gerami.
When asked about planning the perfect event, Gerami shared a secret. Party Central the five C’s of event planning... They are: Concept, Coordination, Control, Culminationand Closeout.
When planning a perfect event, many unknowns can come into play. This is especially true with outdoor events because of the weather.
“Having a having a plan in place if you need to make a change at the 11th hour is crucial” explains Gerami. “This is especially true here in Louisiana. It’s important that everybody understands what that plan looks like in case we have to execute it.
“We also want to make sure that the placement of food and drinks is strategic,” Gerami adds. “You don’t want to have bottlenecks in the room, you want to keep the flow moving. There are questions we always ask. We do this to be able to give customers an idea of what’s possible. We also help them see the creative vision of what they are trying to do.”
With regard to entrepreneurship, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Back in his college days Gerami frequented BJ’s Pizza. In June of 2023 he heard the 40-year Lafayette institution was closing… He jumped into action.
“I was always a BJ’s fan,” admits Gerami. “I lived in Bayou Shadows apartments next door when I went to UL… So yeah, I was a frequent patron. “When I saw they were closing Ireached out to Kamal Borchalli, theowner, and one thing led to another,”adds Gerami. “Before you know it, wehad a deal… and then I rememberedI didn’t know anything about therestaurant business.”
Realizing he needed help, Geramireached out to a couple of his buddies.They jumped in and helped give the oldrestaurant a facelift and held a grand reopeningat the end of January 2024.Additionally, Gerami explains thecontribution he envisioned almost 20years ago.
“Party central isn’t our only division,”says Gerami. “We also have EventSolutions. Event Solutions is a businessthat we created in 2006. It was a visionof mine to support the company.“Party Central was getting a lotof requests for sanitation services,”remembers Gerami. “We often neededrestroom trailers and portable toiletsfor some occasions. “So, we decided tostart a business to support that need.It started with restroom trailers...That turned into acquiring assets liketemporary fencing, shower trailers, andhandwashing stations.”
Upscale events call for nicer facilitiesthan the standard Port-A-Potty... Andthe accommodations provided, moreappropriate. The services aren’t onlyfor black tie events. You can find themeverywhere, from construction sites tosporting events.
Party Central recently merged theirold store with their two warehouses.They built a new facility at 1701 WillowStreet near Scott, Louisiana.“When you take the PartyCentral Event Solutions employeesacross the board... We’re around 85today,” estimates Gerami. “There’sadministrative staff, event planners,marketing, sales, setup crews, anddrivers. On the Event Solutions side wehave service drivers, delivery drivers,and mechanics.
“We also get a lot of requests for whatI’ll call custom builds,” adds Gerami.“Somebody may want a specific bar with aspecific look and a specific color. We do agood bit of our own in-house fabricationto accommodate our customers. So,we also staff painters, electricians, andcarpenters. We need to be able to createand build these specific requests.”
A perfect example of a partner whocan help plan the perfect event, PartyCentral does more. The company alsoprovides services to disaster emergencyresponse crews. They’ve set up basecamps with generators, A/C, showers,lights, and more. They’ve stepped upin times when the community neededthem most, and Gerami is very proudof that.