Party City plans to shut its doors after nearly 40 years in business. The party store is known for its go-to party supplies for birthdays, special occasions and Halloween events.
In 2023, the party store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it accumulated approximately $1.7 billion dollars of debt. The party company announced then that it would slowly start its “winding down” process in late 2024 and end in late February 2025.
“We don’t have a date yet of when the store will close. It’s just me and three other workers that are running the store right now cause everyone else left when they heard that we’re closing.” – Sean McCormick, Party City Store Manager in Canton, Georgia
After filing for bankruptcy, the company was able to cancel $1 billion of debt and managed to keep a vast majority of their stores open.
Party City’s stores nationwide announced the plan to close 80 stores late last year due to its struggling financial situation. It was not enough to keep them in business.
The company still had $800 million worth of debt remaining and overcoming this money hurdle would be no easy task with an already strained yearly earnings.
The party company stated the mass closures were due to inflation, supply chain disruptions and changes in consumer spending.
According to Coresight Research, a “retail apocalypse” could be the reality of many retail stores, with experts pointing out that consumers are looking for the better deals elsewhere especially online than in stores.
Last December employees and staff were shocked by this decision as upper management had down played the seriousness of Party City’s financial situation, but this is not the only store that is closing its stores.
Brands like Big Lots, Joanns, Macy’s, Kohls and many other brick & mortar stores are closing in droves.
Big Lots announced last December it was going out of business and plans to close all locations. The fabrics and crafts retailer Joann’s also announced last Thursday that it filed for bankruptcy again for a second time within the year and looking to sell all its assets.
These retail stores could not remain open due to economic pressure, inflation and the growth of online shopping.
Major retail chains are tracking to close more stores in 2024 than any other year since 2020, according to Bloomberg.
