In the fall of 1992 Mike Jewell, an executive from the high-technology world, was very interested in a new phenomenon called the Internet. He believed ‘e-mail marketing' would become a powerful force, at a time when the term ‘e-commerce’ had not yet been coined. He solicited his wife, Jan Jewell, a professional jewelry designer and manufacturer, and mom of three, to help him conceptualize a business that could be marketed online.

Inspired by their children, their brainstorming discussions ultimately led to the subject of children's birthday parties. Jan recalled that birthdays were always a stressful time for her. She had been frustrated by the lack of availability and thoughtfulness in party supply offerings at retail. Preparations for her children's birthday celebrations took a great deal of time and energy -- something she, a busy working mom, had precious little of. Aware that the number of women in the workforce was steadily increasing, she hypothesized that many other mothers might find the same frustration when seeking to purchase party supplies.

The following year Sebastian Jewell had been born three months premature and weighed 1.10 ounces. After three months in the hospital they brought him home weighing about three pounds and had to feed him through a special tube nearly every two hours to keep him alive. When he survived and had his first birthday it was a special moment for the entire family, and the family learned first-hand how special birthday parties are for parents, family, friends and the birthday child. Today, Sebastian is a healthy 13-year-old learning to grow and survive in this fast-paced world. As a result of this very personal experience, Mike and Jan Jewell continue to donate to children's organizations across the country.

After this experience of throwing Sebastian's first birthday in 1994, Birthday Express was conceived. The idea was thoughtful, complete, coordinated packages of party supplies combined with party planning tips, to make party planning easy. This would eventually become the Company's vision -- "Helping busy parents celebrate the lives of their children."

Mike began an intensive market research campaign to understand how parents would respond to this concept. The results showed moms were unanimously in favor of themed, coordinated party packages, but they did not understand what the Internet was! As a result, Jan suggested printing a catalog as an interim marketing vehicle until the Internet became more commonplace. After careful research the Birthday Express catalog was conceived.

Working from a 2,500 square foot industrial office suite in Bellevue, Washington, Jan and Mike and a small team set out to launch the Birthday Express idea. Their first catalog deadline coincided with the due date of their fourth child. Two weeks after her birth, their baby daughter accompanied Jan to the very first press check. The first test catalog was mailed into homes in January 1994.

Encouraged by the initial response to their catalog, the Jewells incorporated Birthday Express in June 1994 and began the slow, methodical process of building their Company.

By 1995, in order to support both their household and their fledgling Company, Mike divided his time between managing the operations of Birthday Express, and providing consulting services to emerging growth companies. During this time, Jan merchandised and produced all catalogs, marketing materials, and managed their customer database. She even periodically took customer phone calls, whose input led her to recognize new opportunities for the company including exclusive products.

As the company grew, its space requirements grew with it, and the Jewells frequently acquired additional space in the same industrial park in Bellevue. Their rapid growth forced Company meetings to be held in the parking lot, the only place large enough to accommodate all their employees. By the end of 1995, the Jewells moved the Company into a 17,000 square foot space in Kirkland, Washington.

With their move, they focused on establishing an exceptionally high level of quality in their products, services, and internal processes. By September of 1995, they wrote the Company's quality statement; "Celebrate Express is dedicated to providing the highest service level in the young family market. Our products and services must consistently meet or exceed our customer's needs every time, and on time. Quality service and products are the responsibility of every employee. Do it right the first time."

In 1996, the Jewells built a small retail store in the front of their new warehouse to accommodate the customers who lived nearby. Operating on a very tight budget, they showed ingenuity by acquiring all of their furnishings, warehouse racking, computers, and even phone system by buying second-hand products.

Encouraged by customer re-orders and increasing revenues, Jan launched the Company's first BirthdayExpress.com Website in April 1996. Amazon.com, another local company, had been online for nine months, and many Internet companies were beginning to appear. The Internet posed an interesting challenge; sometimes referred to as the bleeding edge of technology, no one knew how to market with it. Although many self-proclaimed ‘experts’ in this new field of technology appeared overnight to give 'advice', in reality this new technology had no proven course to follow, and required an open mind, common sense, ingenuity, and trial and error to understand how to maximize its potential. By the end of 1996, a scant 1% of the Company's revenue was generated online.

In 1997 Mike continued to help build other companies while Jan focused on building Birthday Express and raising their four children. Mike's compensation provided the Jewells with the capital to continue to grow Birthday Express and support their family.

The Company acquired Great Days Publishing; a purveyor of personalized birth date history scrolls describing the events that took place on the day a person was born. This acquisition provided great marketing synergies for both business units.

As the Company continued to grow, the Jewells continued to build their team with talented, dedicated, passionate people. As their exclusive products continued to perform well, Jan began pursuing licensed themes, negotiating several nationally known licenses. As she began printing these products, she began looking for more accessible printers, revealing a new opportunity to Mike. He realized that the Company could benefit from owning its own manufacturing facility, and began researching printing presses and plate and cup forming equipment. A year and a half later the first Birthday Express products were printed on the Company's own equipment.

In early 1998, Birthday Express was honored to be named the 5th fastest growing privately held company in the state of Washington, validating the team's hard work and inspiring them to work even harder. Intrigued with the success of their exclusive products, and inspired by their own children's enjoyment of playing ‘dress-up’, Jan recognized a new opportunity for the Company. She designed and manufactured several costumes to market with the Company's exclusive party themes, thinking children might like to dress up as their favorite character for their birthday parties. Not only were the costumes well received for birthday parties, but an even greater opportunity revealed itself when Halloween came that year. The birthday costumes sold out almost immediately! To fund this new growth, the Jewell's sought their first outside funding from private investors.

By the end of 1998, the Company's Website generated only 2% of its revenue, causing Mike to wonder if his vision of online consumer shopping would ever become a reality.

With a desire to expand their party product offerings beyond children's birthdays, in 1999 the Company launched CelebrateExpress.com offering party supplies for all occasion celebrations. Simultaneously, the Jewell's changed the corporate name to Celebrate Express, Inc. Thick into the dot.com boom, several well-funded competing companies were founded, causing the Jewells to seek venture funding to stay competitive, with a plan to take the company public. They spent the fall of 1999 writing a prospectus, in addition to keeping watch over their ever-expanding business.

The Company became more visible in the media. On October 25, 1999, Newsweek published, "BirthdayExpress.com has a veritable trove of themes, from "Blue's Clues to fire trucks to Winnie-the-Pooh," and on November 11, 1999, the Washington Post stated, "As the leading online provider of birthday party goods and services, BirthdayExpress.com boasts more than a half-million customers and ships more than 1,200 party packages daily. More than 3 million people will have attended its parties in 1999."

By the end of 1999, the Internet had finally arrived, and 35% of the company's revenue was generated online.

In January of 2000 the Company filed to go public, only to watch the market collapse shortly thereafter. The Jewells put the public filing on hold and later that year they reluctantly cancelled it when the dot.com bust made it clear the market was no longer interested in Internet marketing companies. Meanwhile the company continued to grow rapidly. Celebrate Express shipped its one-millionth order in February 2000. The Company's rapid growth spurred expansion in many areas. A new enterprise-wide computer operating system coincided with the opening of an in-house Web and Data Center. The company's customer relations center revamped itself with enhanced training, 24/7 call center staffing, and the launch of live chat and customer reviews on the Company's Website. Celebrate Express also opened its East Coast Distribution Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. And the company began partnering with synergistic companies such as Pillsbury, Keebler, and Sears Portrait studios to continue to grow brand awareness. Additionally, as a service to its customers, it launched an online Party Resource Directory, including free postings of any party related business located in all major metropolitan areas of the country.

By the end of 2000, Celebrate Express was one of the Internet's first vertical companies. The Company designed, manufactured, marketed, and shipped its products directly to the end-use consumer. Again, the Company became more visible in the media. Parenting Magazine stated in May 2000, "With more than 125 themes to choose from, [Birthday Express is] the Amazon.com of birthday sites. It's well-organized and comprehensive, and also offers toys, gifts, and dress-up items." That same year, Birthday Express was honored to be featured on the Oprah Winfrey show and in People Magazine.

After Jan spent many months researching and planning, the Company's internal team of programmers developed and launched a new comprehensive Website in early 2001.

By 2002 it became clear to the Jewells that a new review of internal processes was in order, due to sales growth and the additional demands of marketing multiple brands. After several months of preparation, they launched a company-wide open book management program to give more visibility and accountability of the company's financial performance to all employees. Within six months of implementation this program paid off, and the Company was well on its way toward profitability. At this point, the majority of the company's revenue was generated online, and came from its exclusive products, proving that the Jewells hypotheses was correct, that online shopping and unique products would ultimately be the primary factors in the Company's success. The company also received an ECHO award that year for its Birthday Express catalog. During the fall of 2002, Jan Jewell stepped out of the Company to spend time with her children.

In 2004 the Company began to aggressively promote its Birthday Express Website through online marketing, and tested a new brand called Costume Express, which markets children's quality costumes and matching accessories. In October, the Company completed a $57 million Initial Public Offering. That same year the company was given the party industry's first ever award for "online Party Store Excellence". This was national recognition for being the best in class in online marketing. The company also expanded its space in both Kirkland, Washington and Greensboro, North Carolina.

In 2005 the Internet represented 65% of the Company's revenue and the new Costume Express brand proved to be highly successful. The Company shipped over one million orders in a single year, eleven years after founding making it the Internet's leading provider of children's party supplies and related products. The Company was also recognized that year as one of the country's top 50 Internet companies for customer service.

In early 2006 the Company's online revenue increased to over 70% of sales. The Company had over 400 employees working out of several buildings and locations, with the goal of achieving over $100 million in revenue in calendar 2006. In February 2006, Mike retired to spend time with Jan and their children.

In retrospect, the Jewells believe that conceptualizing, founding, and building Celebrate Express was an exciting, stressful, and intense odyssey, filled with as many challenges as accomplishments. They firmly believe that the team that has worked alongside them has proved invaluable both as extraordinary contributors to the success of the Company, and as trusted, valued friends.

Through hard work and dedication, they have built a Company that meets the needs of millions of customers worldwide, providing an extensive assortment of unique exclusive products customers can't find anywhere else, and a broader assortment than one would normally find at retail. Offering its products via Web and catalog, the Jewells and the Celebrate Express team have built a vertically integrated, direct-to-consumer company, providing value for its customers with convenient party planning expertise, inventory efficiencies, customized orders, and personalized products. The Jewells hope the Company will always share their vision of helping busy parents celebrate the special moments in their children's lives.

"Creating a lifetime of memories"