By Ed Avis
When you think about a DJ set-up, you probably envision the 1980s version, when everything was big and expensive. Giant speakers, industrial-size fog machines, chunky strobe lights. This stuff was all sold by professional lighting and sound companies, and there was little room for costume shops to edge into the business.
But that’s all changed. Today, costume businesses can sell amazingly affordable – and high quality – consumer versions of fog machines, disco lights, and other party-related equipment. It’s a business line driven by NCA Vendor Member Visual Effects.
“Our business started as professional equipment suppliers,” explains George Dertinger, the company’s owner. “In the 1980s and ‘90s we supplied DJs, and then in the early 2000s we realized that we could make the equipment more compact and affordable for the general public.”
Today Visual Effects offers a wide variety of electronic and lighting products, ranging from fog, snow and bubble machines to ultraviolet black lights to mirror balls, Halloween lights, and other party lights.
“Some of our products sell best around Halloween, but we’re constantly working on new and improved products that retailers can sell year-around,” Dertinger says. “We realize NCA members aren’t focused solely on the Halloween season anymore, and we want to help them generate revenue the rest of the year, too.”
History
Visual Effects was founded in 1968 by Henry Kwitel. Kwitel’s company started with novelty and party lights, and expanded to fog, bubble and snow machines during the 1990s.
“If you think back to ‘50s and ‘60s, there were smoke machines and fog machines in stage productions, but they were not priced where DJs could bring them from event to event,” Dertinger says. “There was a need from the people demanding something more portable and affordable. So Hank pionered that technology into a more portable compact version. The emphasis was on affordable. Now anyone can go into a costume shop and buy an affordable fog machine or special effects light.”
Dertinger, who owned a company called Gem Sound, met Kwitel when their respective companies exhibited at trade shows during the 1990s. They started working together because Gem Sound sold the sound equipment that accompanied the lights and fog machines for DJs. In 2007 Dertinger started a new company that acquired Visual Effects and combined it with Gem Sound.
Product Line, Tips for Selling
Today the company’s line includes about any electronic item needed for a party. The affordable fog, bubble and smoke machines and their respective liquids are big sellers, but party lights are not far behind. For Halloween, a lot of customers buy faux flames, black lights, string lights and other spooky stuff.
“Our mirror ball kits are great at weddings,” Dertinger says. “We sell a lot of them in May, June and July, wedding and prom season.”
Dertinger says the retailers who succeed most with his company’s lighting products don’t just stick them on the shelf – they display them in action. For example, if a store sells glow-in-the-dark costumes or make-up, they can install a black light that shows off those products. And during Halloween they can exhibit the faux flames in cauldrons and hang strings of Halloween lights.
Visual Effects’ party lightbulb, which fits in a normal light socket, is a bestseller. It’s the size of a regular lightbulb but creates a disco-like atmosphere. It retails for $9.99 and is UL listed (unlike cheaper knock-offs available on Amazon). Visual Effects offers a countertop display for the bulb that lets customers press a button and see it in action for 20 seconds. It’s a perfect impulse item.
“One retailer told me that he puts our party lightbulb in the restrooms so when people go in and turn on the light they immediately see how it works, with red, green and blue moving dots across the walls and ceilings,” he says. “Nine out of 10 of them come out and want to buy it.”
Available Through Loftus and Caufields
Many retailers order Visual Edge product in bulk at the beginning of the year to get the best discounts and to save on freight, but the company’s products are available year-around from Loftus and Caufields.
“Our post-COVID catalog includes our 50 best selling items,” Dertinger says. “Our hope is that stores that currently don’t sell our products will try some of these and see that they can add revenue all year long. People always want to have a party!”
Click here to view Visual Edge’s product line.
