If you answer your doorbell one day and find a pink gorilla on your porch, don’t worry, he’s passed security checks in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Juan Carlos “J.C.” Viera, the man most likely to be in the monkey suit, and his wife Lori, (who takes on roles like Marilyn Monroe) have owned American Balloon Company for the past five years. Besides donning various guises to deliver singing telegrams, they create elaborate balloon decorations — like palm trees, airplanes and arches — and ceiling drops for corporate events, grand openings, birthdays, weddings and even presidential inaugurations.
On Thursday, Chamber of Commerce members celebrated the grand opening of the Vieras’ new American Balloon Company store near Staples in Mount Vernon Plaza. “How many balloon establishments do you know of in the district?” Chamber president Kahan Dhillon asked rhetorically. “Not many.”
The American Balloon Company store is an extension of the Vieras’ party service. It holds shelves full of festive decorations and party supplies, particularly balloons. J.C. Viera said the success of their delivery and decoration service influenced the couple to expand their operation to retail. He said they were first attracted to the balloon business because “It’s something different. Not too many people do that.”
Viera said they will deliver balloon “bouquets” as an alternative to flowers. But he was most enthusiastic about the singing telegrams. They can don costumes ranging from Monroe, the actress, to teddy bears and puppy dogs. But, said Viera, “the pink gorilla is the funny one.” He sang “Happy Birthday” the last time he wore the suit, and it is always a crowd pleaser. “They love it. They love it.”
But some orders can be more challenging. Viera said he would not be wearing the gorilla suit for the man who’d just called him, desperate to win back his girlfriend after breaking up with her. Viera said the man asked him to compose an original song (“something sweet”) with only the vaguest lyrical suggestions, “something like ‘Please come back. Please come back.”
Viera said he and his wife were still working on the song, but he knows who will be singing it: the teddy bear.