Festivities Tents & Events to Help Get the Party Started

Owner: Craig Bova and family
Address: 1374 Carley Road, Springdale 72762
Phone/Fax: (479) 750-8981
Hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and by appointment
Startup date: Aug. 1

Craig Bova was planning to open a tool and equipment rental business, but got to looking at the local market and opted for a party instead.

Bova, with some support from his family, recently opened Festivities Tents & Events in Springdale. Festivities offers tents, chairs, tables, linens and more for party rental. The company can provide just about everything needed for a party or large event.

The party and tent rental business is a good fit for the couple, Bova said, explaining that his wife, Lori, is great at planning and being able to visualize a plan and make it come together.

“She’s great at this stuff,” he said, but added that “technically” his wife doesn’t work for Festivities full-time.

Festivities has 10,000 SF of warehouse space and another 3,800 SF of office and showroom space.

Craig and Lori Bova are both former employees of the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. home office and both later went to work for retail suppliers. Now, Craig Bova said, they are excited about starting their own business in Northwest Arkansas.

In addition to Craig and Lori Bova, Festivities has a full-time warehouse employee and some part-time support staff. Craig Bova said the business could add as many as six employees during its first year of operations.

He declined to say what was invested to launch the business, but said they expect to get a return on that investment in the first five years of operations.