Party City, the largest party supply retailer in America, is shuttering all of its stores after almost four decades in operation.
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Company CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees in a meeting Friday that Party City is "winding down" the business immediately, CNN reports. Litwin told employees that Friday was their last day of business and that they would not receive severance pay.
“It’s really important for you to know that we’ve done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome,” Litwin reportedly said. “Unfortunately, it’s necessary to commence a winddown process immediately.”
The retailer did not immediately return Bisnow's request for comment.
The company sent out notifications to store managers that all Party City locations’ doors would be shut on Feb. 1, CNN reported. Party City has over 700 stores nationwide.
Party City was reportedly mulling its second bankruptcy in two years Thursday as it faced dwindling cash reserves and stopped paying rent at some locations. Party City first exited bankruptcy in September, one month after Litwin’s arrival at the company.
The retailer was able to shed nearly $1B of its $1.7B in debt through the bankruptcy process while also keeping most of its locations open. It closed more than 80 stores between the end of 2022 and August 2024.
But Party City's financial recovery efforts were hamstrung by a debt load of more than $800M, sluggish sales, rising costs and a national helium shortage.
The longstanding retailer going out of business is part of a larger national trend of retail closings.
Roughly 7,100 store closures were announced nationwide through the end of November 2024, according to a report from research firm CoreSight. That number is up 69% from this time last year.
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