Dollar Tree and Five Below jumped at the opportunity to take over dozens of Party City leases after the chain filed for bankruptcy last year, but more than half of the defunct retailer’s nearly 700 stores failed to garner any interest at all.
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Roughly 250 bids were placed during an auction organized by A&G Real Estate Partners, CoStar reported.
Virginia-based Dollar Tree won the most leases with 148. Philadelphia-based Five Below came in at No. 2 with 44 winning bids. Western wear chain Cavender’s won 15, Rack Room Shoes won nine and Books-A-Million won five. Barnes & Noble, La-Z-Boy and Zurchers Merchandise each placed four winning bids, while Burlington Coat Factory placed two.
But more than 400 Party City locations were left without a single bid, despite the low 4.1% retail vacancy rate nationwide.
The auction reportedly led to $14.5M in gross proceeds for the beleaguered company, Chain Store Age reported. A court hearing to approve the lease sales is scheduled for Feb. 26.
Party City and A&G are still trying to offload the rest of the retailer’s leases.
A&G is advertising the leases as “turn-key spaces ready for immediate occupancy” in established retail corridors with “favorable lease terms.” The available spaces range from 7,000 SF to 46K SF.
Party City also gained $20M by auctioning off its intellectual property and wholesale operations. New Amscan, a branch of the marketing company Ad Populum, was the winning bidder.
“By combining our strengths in sourcing and distribution with Party City's legacy, we are confident in our ability to innovate and grow in the party supply market, delivering products that inspire and elevate life's celebrations,” Ad Populum CEO Joel Weinshanker said last month in a statement obtained by Chain Store Age.
Party City announced plans to shut down all of its stores on Feb. 1 shortly after the company’s bankruptcy made headlines in December 2024.
“It’s really important for you to know that we’ve done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome,” CEO Barry Litwin told CNN at the time. “Unfortunately, it’s necessary to commence a winddown process immediately.”
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