BATON ROUGE - Carnival season is about a month away, and for the past two years, pandemic and supply chain issues have put a slowdown on the throw-down.

This year, stores are ready for the return of parades, and shoppers are already getting their hands on some unique throws.

Luckily, this year, stores like Parties Start Here are seeing a huge comeback in sales. Krewe members have been in and out of the store nearly every day preparing for parades coming next month.

Nelson Maddox, the owner of Parties Start Here, has customers all over the state. The store has supplies stacked to the ceiling with throws, feather boas, and light-up toys.

Last year was a slow return to normalcy for carnival season after it was heavily affected by the pandemic and some supply chain issues, but this year sales are booming. Krewes are eager to have the best hot items to throw this year.

"We've tried to bring in a bunch of new lighted stuff, lighted always seems to be really sought out after by the crowds," said Maddox. "Everybody likes something different; that's why we bring in 200 styles of throws, beads, whatever.

"Most of these styles are hand-strung and we just refill every year, but there's an awful lot of things that if we think of something, we have it made, and generally it works very well."

They've got something unique for every party—everything from traditional purple, green, and gold, to Spanish Town pink, and of course, St. Patrick's Day attire.

Parties Start Here is located at 3150 Valley Street in Baton Rouge.