Preparations are being made to demolish the former Party Boy, party supply store located a 1515 Studemont, on the banks of White Oak Bayou and where it meets I-10. For the better part of the last three decades, Party Boy has been one of Houston’s most prominent party supply warehouse destinations. Those in search of copious amounts of cheap decor, will now have no choice but to turn to Arne’s. Rumors of the property’s redevelopment have swirled since 2017 when the attached haunted house, Nightmare on the Bayou, unexpectedly announced they would not reopen the following season. Party Boy would manage to hang on for two more years, before announcing their intent to close in late 2019. Liquidation would last just until the middle of February 2020, likely hampered by the pandemic.
The current plan is to redevelop the property by tearing down the existing structures, and building in their place a two level retail structure, or as I think we should start calling them, “Houston’s Strip Centers of the future”. The developers however will call this new shopping center 10 and Heights. Well, at least it’s not “The 10 and Heights”.
I’m not going to feel too sad about losing Party Boy (I never went there so I really can’t speak of how they ran their store), but hopefully Arne’s will be able to survive. They’re a bit of a Houston institution, albeit perhaps a bit lesser-known institution than other Houston retail institutions. Given Arne’s location and the land values in that area, it might be difficult for them to survive where they are, but we’ll see.