July 7, 2007

Parents pony up for posh parties

Even with state ailing, kids get royal treatment

Catherine Jun / The Detroit News

For her birthday, Jade Heller and her friends went for luxury.

First, a Jacuzzi bath, followed by an aromatherapy massage. Then manicures, pedicures and makeup applications all around.

On a recent afternoon at Tamara's Spa & Wellness in Farmington Hills, Jade and six giggly friends padded from room to room in white cotton robes, getting the royal treatment.

Jade is 10 years old.

"It's a different world," said spa owner Tamara Friedman. "Parents are spending a lot of money. Sometimes I am in shock."

From preteen spa parties to princess soirees with horse-drawn carriages, extravagant parties for children are becoming the norm in some social circles as parents are willing to pay big bucks for over-the-top extravaganzas. Even in Michigan, a state reeling from layoffs, unemployment and constricting household budgets, party planners report no shortage of clients. Economic analysts say this highlights the oft-overlooked gilded lining in the woeful Michigan economy: The rich are still rich, still spending and, following national trends, may be getting richer.

"The sky's the limit when it comes to parties now," said Gabby Heller, Jade's mother. She said the spa party -- costing about $900 -- was modest compared to those she previously threw for her daughter. When Jade turned 5, more than a dozen classmates enjoyed snow cone and popcorn machines, a clown and live petting zoo outside their Bloomfield Hills home, a party that cost about $2,500.

"You just want to throw parties you wish you had," said Heller. "And you see the smiles on their faces."

Kim Gayton, owner of Kimberella Parties, a full-service party service for children, said she believes eager parents are driving this trend toward the extravagant; when they see the lavishness of a neighbor's party, they want to do the same.

"When it comes to your kids, (parents) don't want their kid to go without when they see another child with everything," Gayton said.

She herself seized on what appeared to be a business opportunity in February when she quit her job as a clubhouse manager at Bloomfield Open Hunt Club to become a full-time planner for the kind of expensive parties she saw thrown there.

Out of her Oak Park home, she has worked with parents to plan theme parties with budgets as big as $5,000 for kids as young as 4 in the manicured neighborhoods of places such as Birmingham and West Bloomfield. She has booked a party nearly every weekend this year. "These people are so willing to spend every penny on their child," she said.

Fran Smith, whose husband owns a chain of auto collision shops, admits she went "definitely over the top" when her daughter, Angelina, turned 10 in February.

"Angelina rides and she absolutely loves horses," she said.

So Smith, with the help of Kimberella Parties, threw her daughter a "pony party": She invited about 25 girls to Bloomfield Open Hunt Club, where each made her own stuffed horse, painted a ceramic horse figurine, raced each other on inflatable horses and decorated a cowboy hat with jewels.

The bill? At least $100 per guest, totaling more than $2,500.

"You only turn double-digits once," said Smith of Bloomfield Hills. "We looked at it as a reward. She deserves this, and she really did deserve it.

"It's something she'll never forget."

Observers say this phenomenon points out that Michigan's economic downturn is impacting people very differently.

"The problems in Michigan are mostly hitting the working class and middle class," said Ken Dalto, a retail analyst in Farmington Hills. "The luxury market is not in bad shape at all. There's still a vibrant economy at the upper level."

That's because layoffs in the auto industry, its suppliers and other sectors -- contributing to a 6.9 percent unemployment rate in Michigan -- usually target those on the lower rungs, like factory workers and middle managers, and not the executives at the top of the pay scale, he said.

And it's this affluent group -- households with about $200,000 to $600,000 in annual income -- that is helping fuel a 5 percent growth rate in the luxury market, said Dalto. While midlevel retail sales have either flattened or dropped, this group is still spending money on brand-name apparel, exotic vacations, electronics and boats, he said.

And it's often this same group throwing lavish sweet sixteens, bar and bat mitzvahs and birthday parties, he said.

It's a phenomenon that partly explains why Farmer Jack supermarkets are closing around the state at the same time gourmet grocery stores like Papa Joe's, which opened a second location in Rochester this year, are bustling with customers, he added.

Similarly, Tamara's Spa has not seen a drop in clients seeking its services, including spa parties.

"It has not affected us whatsoever," said spa manager Kaley Hedric, who books about three children's parties a month and sees no sign of slowing. "They are willing to make their birthday parties fabulous for their kid."

Observers say this may hint at a recent national trend that the very rich are getting richer.

"Nationwide, the top 1 percent in particular and the top 5 percent in general has shown much more rapid income growth than other levels," said Rebecca M. Blank, an economist and dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. "The returns to the very top are going up."

And Michigan, despite its bleak economic outlook, is likely not immune, she said.

You can reach Catherine Jun at (248) 647-7429 or cjun@detnews.com.