The party’s over for the U.S.’s largest party supply store. As CNN first reported, Party City is going out of business and closing all of its remaining stores after 40 years. In a meeting held today, which CNN reporters attended, Party City CEO Barry Litwin said it would be corporate employees’ last day and that the company would begin “winding down” operations immediately.
RELATED: All Big Lots Locations Could Close as Going-Out-of-Business Sales Commence at Remaining Stores.
Party City first filed for bankruptcy in 2023.
In Jan. 2023, Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after accumulating nearly $1 billion in debt, which it attributed to inflation.
At the time, then-CEO Brad Weston said the move would put the party supply store “on stronger financial footing for the future.”
However, the following month the retailer announced plans to close at least 22 of its 800+ stores.
“Our work on our lease portfolio is moving very quickly, with a plan for us to exit locations that do not meet the key financial metrics required for our go-forward fleet,” Marc Ehle, Party City’s executive vice president of enterprise operations, said in a statement at the time.
But as CNN notes, by Aug. 2024, more than 80 Party City locations had closed and the company was still saddled with more than $800 million in debt.
RELATED: Walgreens Is Closing More Stores—Here’s Where and When.
Party City is closing all locations.
In today’s meeting, per CNN, Litwin said, “It’s really important for you to know that we’ve done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome. Unfortunately, it’s necessary to commence a winddown process immediately.”
He, too, cited rising costs and reduced customer spending.
Effective immediately, all corporate employees are out of work. CNN reports that they will not receive severance or extended benefits, a fact that caused Party City’s Chief Human Resources Officer Karen McGowan to break “down in tears several times” during the video conference meeting.
“That is without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver,” Litwin said.
According to CNN, Party City “had approximately 6,400 full-time and 10,100 part-time workers as of 2021.”
When do stores officially shut their doors?
As for when locations will close their doors for good, CNN says that store managers received notifications that Feb. 1, 2025, would be the last day, though Party City has not confirmed this date.
However, employees seem to be expressing frustration over a lack of transparency, even pointing out that in recent town hall meetings, executives seemed optimistic.
“We recognize the flow of communication has not been how we typically handle sensitive matters like this,” Litwin acknowledged.
Best Life has reached out to Party City about the timeline of the closures and will update this story with their response.
RELATED: Macy’s Is Closing 65 More Stores—Here’s When.
Big Lots also announced going-out-of-business sales today.
According to data provided to Scripps News by Coresight, U.S. store closings are up 69 percent in 2024, with Family Dollar and CVS leading the pack of retailers shuttering locations.
In the third spot is Big Lots, which announced just today that it would be commencing going-out-of-business sales at its roughly 900 remaining locations after a previously planned asset sale fell through. Big Lots executives say they’re still pursuing an alternate sale to be completed by early January, but the liquidation sales went into effect as of today.