Party City announced Saturday that it would start a “wind down” of its retail and wholesale operations as it prepares to shutter nearly 700 stores nationwide, according to the Associated Press. The company has also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than two years “to maximize value for the benefit of the company’s stakeholders.”
Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023 as well — a move that allowed for a restructuring that eliminated nearly $1 billion in debt. However, “macroeconomic headwinds more recently proved too severe” to overcome, the company said.
The New Jersey-based retailer said it will keep more than 95% of its 12,000 employees to help with the process of shutting down.
Party City has faced growing competition from Walmart and Target and increasingly from occasion-based pop-up stores such as Spirit Halloween, which announced in October that it would also open 10 Spirit Christmas stores. That pressure has intensified in an era of rising prices, including for helium used in party balloons, and slowing consumer demand.
