Ohio company’s inflatables to be in Macy’s parade

Associated Press

BRUNSWICK, Ohio

It’s time for holiday music, pumpkin pie and gigantic inflatables.

Local company Inflatable Images is launching projects for two of its biggest clients this week: Macy’s and the Cleveland Indians.

Inflatable Images will have four new inflatables in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, co-owner David Scherba said.

The first is a 25-foot re-creation of a cartoon Smurf that Macy’s ordered to promote “The Smurfs” movie, which will be released in 3D next summer.

Two of the inflatables are elves and a fourth is a jukebox, which Scherba said likely will sit along the parade route on top of awnings.

In addition to the new ones, the parade will feature several Inflatable Images works, including the M&M’s characters, that have been used several years in a row.

The business, which manufactures cold-air inflatables and not helium balloons or floats, has provided holiday, cartoon or pop-culture-inspired creations for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for about 20 years, Scherba said.

In Medina County, Inflatable Images may be better known for creating the various blow-up creatures that sit on top of the Bill Doraty Kia dealership in Medina Township.

The business also creates signs, banners and inflatable bounce houses that are available for rent.

“Inflatables have become part of mainstream America when you look at entertainment,” Scherba said. “If you’re 25 or younger, you likely have a memory of having an inflatable at a birthday party.”