There is a reason why this store has such good reviews. The staff is kind, friendly, and welcoming…read more They took time to explain the difference between jazz shoes, and they helped with color matching a pair of tights for my daughter. It was 100% worth the drive from Martinez. We will only be going to A1 for dance supplies from now on.

It's so great to have a dance supply/outfit store in Castro Valley. We've gotten tap and ballet…read moreshoes for our kid here and the staff is always nice and accommodating.

The service is a 10/10! They provide communications and thoroughly detailed confirmations via text,…read moreemail and phone, whichever you prefer. I booked with them for a Bluey character to come to my kids' birthday party. The first 30 minutes was balloon animals and the next hour was the same performer dressed as Bluey and doing some activities with the kids and finally singing happy birthday with the cake. Nomi was AMAZING! He was so professional, cool and handled the requests of kids so well. I will definitely be booking with this company again!

I recently rented Disney characters from Birthday Party Characters, and they were absolutely…read morefantastic! The performers truly brought the magic to life, staying in character the entire with balloons magic tricks ( Mickey ) & mannerisms, and energy that kept the kids (and adults) completely mesmerized. From the moment they arrived, they engaged with every guest, leading games, taking photos, and making the birthday child feel extra special. The costumes were great and looked just like the pictures i requested. If you're looking to create an unforgettable party experience, I highly recommend them! Everybody kept telling that my baby's birthday was the best one-year-old party they've ever attended. It definitely was over the top.

PROS: The costumes arrived on time and were in very good condition. The customer service that I've…read moreexperienced from Desired Effects was top-notched. Prices were very reasonable - especially for the quality of the costumes. I highly recommend this costume rental house. CONS: none.

One of the worst sound companies I have ever worked with. Our band had no monitors and our lead…read morevocalist could not hear himself. The band has a huge following and it made us look really bad and also the Lafayette Art and Wine festival. The sound the audience was hearing was muffled and after listening to friends' posted videos of our show today - lead vocals were almost not there, keyboards blasting loud and no guitars. This is the most unprofessional sound company. They have no business doing sound for a big festival. Maybe a backyard party would be ok

Went here two weeks before Halloween and there's hardly anything. A lot of costumes are sold out…read more This is one of the biggest Halloween store I ever been too. The workers here are nice and friendly. I wish they had more coupons because most costume here are pricey.

I recently bought an pokemon "ash ketchum" costume for a halloween party but the costume didn't…read morecome with any of the accessories included on the front of the packet and the costume didnt look tampered with whatsoever. Plus, no refunds? Crazy. Also the sizing is a little weird.

Horrible customer service. She threaten to call the cops on me!! The day I payed for the tables and…read morechairs the young lady at the desk told me I could pick them up after 5 on Friday. My party was on Saturday, after I showed up at 5:15 Mercedes said she tells customers to come after 6:30pm, she had me wait because she said she needed to close the store so she can give me the tables. I took them, I called around 5 pm on Sunday (thinking it would be the same deal to drop the off) they didn't answer. It was closed. (On a side note, the day I was there, she was talking a lot of mess about her employee to another costumer in front of all the other costumers. She said some very private personal stuff about his mother's death and how he was good for nothing and he didn't help her at all. I want to run into him to tell him to quit that place!) I called on Monday and told her that wasn't given a time to drop them off so I assumed it would be the same as Friday. I worked until 8:30 pm so I would drop them off Tuesday. Tuesday morning I had a whole bunch of missed calls and a voicemail saying she was going to make a police report and report them as stolen. I called her back and told her I would drop them off on my way to work. She said "come now because I'm asthmatic and won't take them back if it starts to rain" when I dropped them I was setting them on the side walk. She said to bring them in the store because loading and unloading was not part of the service. She started to tell me that I am lucky she is not changing me for the extra days and was going to make sure they don't rent to me again. She said no rental business takes the chairs back past 5 and they always put a note on the rental agreement to bring them back before 3. I showed her the paper and there was no note nor was it ever communicated to me. At the end of the night she was taking pictures of me and my car. Then she called the next day to say chairs were missing, I told her I dropped them all off, she hung up and that was that.

I have driven past this store so many times and was looking for a trump piñata in which when I…read morecalled they had I walked in a saw just what I was looking for. The staff was friendly and extremely helpful. I recommend stopping in

We had the pleasure of working with Twisted Balloon for Ellie's Bat Mitzvah, and they were…read moreabsolutely amazing from start to finish! The entire process was smooth, professional, creative, and stress-free. Their team brought such positive energy and a true "we'll make it happen" attitude that made working with them such a pleasure. The balloon décor turned out beautiful and added so much fun, color, and personality to the event. Everything was executed perfectly, on time, and with great attention to detail. Beyond the décor itself, the team was kind, easy to communicate with, flexible, and genuinely cared about making the event special. We received so many compliments from our guests throughout the night. Highly recommend them for any event -- we would absolutely work with them again!

As a part-time faculty at West Valley College it was so wonderful to see Calla, Coraluna, and…read moreCassia as wonderful circuses performers it was my daughters first time getting a balloon animal and hand paint and she was so patient!!!

I used this place to hire a giant waterslide. We had the party in our backyard in Milpitas. It was…read morea great looking slide, actually much bigger than I thought it would be but it still fit well in our backyard space. Plenty of room for the kids to go on, it was easy to set up and easy to use. Perfect for a hot day and the price was pretty reasonable considering how big it was.

We booked Cookie Monster from Fun Factory for our 3rd birthday at Pasadena Pizza, and it was one…read moreof the funnest parts of the party. We did a full Sesame Street theme, and since Cookie Monster is her absolute favorite, we knew we had to have him. The second he walked in, she was so excited and couldn't stop smiling. She spent so much of the party dancing with Cookie Monster, and all the other kids jumped right in too. The costume looked amazing in person, and the entertainer had so much energy and was really great with the kids. Everything ran smoothly, and it was totally worth it just to see how happy everyone was. We'd definitely use again.

This place is a hidden gem!!! Seriously, any type of beads or crystals, all of the types of beads,…read morethis guy totally had!! It's like what stores use to be, when someone took the time to understand what u are looking for, actually have knowledge, and really just want to help you. The prices were great, the selection was far more than i could have ever expected, just wow all over the place. For real, check this place out, it's a long time locally owned, family run true SF shop. A long lost breed that us locals need to help preserve (in my humble opinion).

My go-to bead store in the Castro for years became intolerable as the male owner is soo unfriendly…read morethat I searched for a new one nearby. I really glad I did! As others have stated, The Fashion Company is on a out-of-the-way dead end street. I called for an appt. Terrence is gracious, informative, and has a ton of stuff! Highly recommend!