Party over for Party City: all stores to close

Party City helped fill kids' lives with joy for forty years. But the party supply retailer is going out of business, closing all its stores and laying off most of its employees.

the company's closure was due to ongoing financial challenges at the party supply retailer, which less than two years ago filed for bankruptcy protection over its inability to pay off $1.7 billion in debt. The New Jersey-based chain exited bankruptcy in September 2023 through a plan that included transitioning into a privately held company and canceling nearly $1 billion in debt. A majority of its 800 U.S. stores were able to stay open as it emerged from bankruptcy.

They were squeezed by Spirit Halloween becoming a year-round retailer, by big box chains like Walmart and Target aggressively competing on prices, and by competition from similarly-desperate dollar store chains.

Check out this amazing paragraph from CNN's paywalled scoop.

Party City's product development team was recalled two weeks ago from its yearly trip with vendors and told to return home immediately … The team was told the company believed the trip posed a safety risk, because Party City had stopped paying its suppliers.

This one got the point where acts of violence could be reasonably expected of Party City's own vendors. No "profitable stores will remain open during reorganization" here, ladies and gents, it is lights out.