With All Stores Closing Now, Party City Cuts Off Workers

Party City has been unable to overcome its financial challenges, its chief executives told employees Friday, especially the inflation that has increased costs and reduced consumer spending. So the company, which still had more than 700 stores, said it's starting to wind down operations immediately, reports CNN, which watched the video meeting. Corporate employees were informed that Friday was their last day, that there would be no severance pay, and that their benefits are ending. "It's really important for you to know that we've done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome," Barry Litwin told them.

The struggles aren't new, and the company filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2023, which let it cancel debt of almost $1 billion. Some stores closed after that as part of the restructuring, per Yahoo Finance. But $800 million in debt remained a drag on the company. Until now, Party City was the largest party supply store in the US; it had about 6,400 full-time and 10,100 part-time employees as of 2021, per CNN. The company was competing with not just larger chains such as Walmart and Costco but Amazon and Halloween pop-up stores. (Big Lots is going out of business, too.)