When sisters Louise Erikson and Paulette Champagne were growing up in Swansea, Mass., a mostly blue-collar town about 15 miles east of Providence, R.I., they often would walk about three blocks from home to order from a little fish shack. How New England can you get? Little did they know that some day they would buy the shack and offer a different brand of customer service.

At first approach, L&E Party Perfect Rentals - which opened its doors as a 90-percent tool rental business in 1989 (then called L&E Rentals) and became a 100-percent party rental store five years later - looks much like other party rental businesses. There's a moon walk out front, a beautiful - if packed - showroom and an entrance festooned with balloons and banners.

But looks are deceiving. Owners Erik and Louise Erikson and Paulette Champagne and their team strive every day to make their party rentals not only different, but awfully fun, as well, for both clients and themselves.

"We've all had different jobs before, but we wanted this [business] to be a fun part of our lives, something that at the end of the day we could say to ourselves, 'We've done a good job,'" Louise says.

The philosophy works. The atmosphere at L&E is beyond friendly - it feels like you're being invited into someone's home, and it's hard to tell which of the 12 year-round team members are related because they all act like family. And they all fawn over what Louise affectionately calls the L&E mascots: two toy poodles named Taffy and Bingo.

But family-oriented businesses are, of course, nothing new to the rental industry. The difference with L&E is that each person is recognized as a link to the chain - links that make the business stronger because everyone is encouraged to build on their strengths.

"We always feel each other out when it comes to adding something new to the business because everyone has different opinions," Paulette says. "Ideas go on a drawing board, and we take a look at them together."

Louise echoes the sentiment. "It's not just one or two of us. You throw out an idea here, because someone else might have a whole different perspective. We want people to speak up and say something because it might not have been thought of and that is how we come up with new approaches."

For example, a local textile company in neighboring Fall River was throwing a 50th anniversary bash, and L&E supplied everything from tents to children's games. But Paulette, known for her creative flair, came up with an idea that made the event especially memorable. One of the L&E robots, Marty the parrot, was used as a greeter to guide people in and show them where to go. But instead of renting the parrot for an hour just to greet people, Paulette created a full-day rental by having the parrot hold a story hour in the children's tent.

"It's really just all about listening to the client's needs and then being able to take their ideas, suggest new ones and help them create an event that it totally unique - that's the key for us," Paulette says.

Since becoming a full-time party rental operation less than five years ago, the company's mainstay has been tent rentals and the wedding business. But this year, corporate and home parties have really taken off, driven by the healthy economy and the fact that L&E offers a huge variety of products, including a large inventory of props and games built completely in-house.

"Weddings have been the No. 1 market, but we're really getting more and more into the corporate party market," Paulette says. "Events like company appreciation days, grand openings and company picnics have really increased tremendously."

"I think the rise in corporate parties is due to the variety of products we have to offer," Louise adds. "But it goes beyond tables, chairs and linens. We really emphasize our strength, which is organizing the whole entertainment package, with the goal of creating something different."

And with L&E, "creating something different" very often literally means creating something different. The company has built its own latticework, such as archways and gazebos for weddings, and Erik and several employees have also custom-made an entire line of children's games.

"Erik is a mechanical engineer, so creating fills a personal need," Louise says. "It's a good thing for him, and people know they can come to us if they can't find exactly what they want. For example, a bride came in one day with a picture of a cart she wanted to hold her wedding cake, but she couldn't find it anywhere. We custom-made it from the picture, because it was what she wanted."

L&E's popular custom-game line includes limbo, tug-of-war ropes and even an 18-hole miniature golf course, each hole of which is completely different. "People can rent out one hole or the whole thing," Louise says. "Actually, we even have a 19th hole now. The whole course was rented one day, and we had a fellow who needed one hole for a promotion, so Erik built another hole at the last minute."

But, by far, the product that could probably be considered L&E's signature rental item and marketing tool is a full-size children's train in Crayola colors - a four-car trackless locomotive that is widely used for promotions, parades and many other events. The engine car is built atop a riding lawn mower. The train features an open rear car so the elderly or physically disabled can ride more easily.

"We get calls for this all the time," Paulette says. "In fact, this year Bristol Community College has rented it for a whole Toyland Express Ballet, and it is using the train onstage in the ballet."

In fact, the train is so popular that next year Erik and crew are planning to build a fire truck that will hold eight children. Also on the drawing board is a complete puppet show so that parties can get children's imaginations involved.

"We really do have a large selection of children's things, but it's not large enough yet," Paulette says. "The great thing is that they can be marketed to both home and corporate parties. What we're seeing is that today's children love the old-fashioned games we grew up with because to them they are new. One customer who was skeptical about renting a tug-of-war game came back to us and said the rope was never on the ground during the whole party."

The family party business also is growing because parents feel they have more control over safety and price, according to Paulette.

But the building doesn't stop with wedding accessories and children's games. L&E also builds holiday displays used by local malls and stores. Its recent Christmas displays featured an entire Santa's Village, with little houses, reindeer and other holiday items. "We designed and built it, and it's put up every year," Paulette says. "This was the third year for the current one, so we're already planning something different for Christmas 1999."

That sense of marketing to be different also led the L&E team to actually create business. In the past two years, Paulette has launched a custom balloon business, and the company also creates holiday wreaths and baskets and even sells Christmas trees.

"We're always trying to think about what else we can do that can be tied into the business. We're already known for our holiday displays, so making wreaths and baskets is a natural. It's just another way to help us carry through the winter," Louise says.

Employees Paula Correira and Stacy Raposo took the holiday business in another new direction this past December by renting themselves out as Mrs. Claus and her trusty elf. L&E targeted schools and nursing homes to offer a break time with treats from Mrs. Claus. In fact, office managers who booked before Dec. 1 received a free gift.

L&E also has special items for other holidays incuding an Easter basket for the Easter Bunny to sit in.

"We could have decided to have everything identical to what other stores have to offer, and we do purchase when we have to. But one of our missions is always to look for what we can do ourselves to make something special," Louise says.

"When we first started in the rental business, we would go to shows and people would tell us that there's nothing you can do in the winter," Paulette recalls. "The rental business is just down, so you have to hang on tight until spring. Well, I said, 'I can't handle that kind of thinking, there has to be something to do.'"

There was. Even though investing in winter items like pipe and drape couldn't equal the summer business of tents, Paulette and Louise realized they had been turning away balloon business on a regular basis.

"Although this was mainly regular balloons, which doesn't bring in that much income, we implemented a whole balloon sculpture and artwork area, which Paulette runs," Louise says. "It's become a whole separate avenue of business."

Paulette creates balloon canopies, characters, centerpieces and virtually anything a customer needs. "We had a baby shower in which we had to build an archway over a large rectangular in-ground swimming pool, which was a real challenge because it was a 96-degree day," Paulette says.

She also makes hibiscus-looking flowers that are hand-wired onto 18-gauge wire. "We just made 85 of these for a bridal shower, which were used as the giveaway for the guests," Paulette says.

All of L&E's directions and initiatives all point back to that basic philosophy of being different and everyone having fun working together.

"We never expect one of our employees to do something we haven't done ourselves, and I think that's why our team works. We wear regular work shirts because if something needs to be done, we roll up our sleeves," Louise says.

"I think we'll always want to be part of our group in that way, too. It's very difficult to tell an employee they have to be somewhere at 5:30 a.m. unless you're going to be there yourself.

Our staff is like family, and we wouldn't do that to them. For example, mall jobs usually have to be done before or after hours, and there's always one of the three [Louise, Erik or Paulette], if not all of us, on-site for any of these after-hour jobs."

Copyright © 1999 American Rental Association. All rights reserved.