A Party City store on January 18, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Party City Holdco Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a bid to restructure its heavy debt load after supply chain problems, rising inflation and a consumer slowdown have hurt sales.
Major Chain Going Out of Business, ‘Winding Down’ Operations Immediately
By Ben Zeisloft December 21, 2024 at 11:40am
Party City announced that it will shutter all stores, a move which ends the nearly 40-year history of the company and comes almost two years after it declared bankruptcy.
Corporate employees of the party supplies retailer learned Friday that they would lose their jobs immediately, according to a report from CNN.
Party City CEO Barry Litwin told the employees during a video conference call that the company was “winding down.”
“That is without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver,” Litwin said at the meeting.
“It’s really important for you to know that we’ve done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome,” he added. “Unfortunately, it’s necessary to commence a winddown process immediately.”
Litwin said the “very best efforts” of the company were ultimately not “enough to overcome” its financial issues.
He mentioned inflation as a factor which impacted consumer spending and increased costs for the business.
Corporate staffers will not receive severance pay and their benefits will immediately end, per CNN.
Some employees at Party City stores meanwhile received letters saying their stores would be closed at the end of February. They will lose their jobs at that point.
Have you ever shopped at Party City?
“Although Party City believes these closings are in the best interest of the company, we regret that we have had to take this step and thank you for your valued contributions and service to the company,” the document said.
Party City declared bankruptcy in January 2023 after battling to pay down $1.7 billion in debt.
They were able to keep most of their 800 stores operating through that process, as well as cancel almost $1 billion of the debt load.
Many employees complained about minimal transparency from Party City leadership in recent weeks, a reality for which Litwin apologized.
“We recognize the flow of communication has not been how we typically handle sensitive matters like this,” Litwin said during the call.
A former corporate employee who spoke to CNN said the product development team at Party City was called back from an annual outing with vendors because the company stopped paying its suppliers.
Every corporate staff member lost access to the office on Dec. 10, with security personnel locking the doors.
Staff were told one day later via email that they had to request access to the building a day beforehand if they wanted to enter.
They were told to “not allow anyone to tailgate when entering the building,” meaning they should not let anyone follow closely while they use a company badge to open the door.
Party City had 6,400 full-time and 10,100 part-time workers as of 2021, according to CNN.
Ben Zeisloft is the editor of The Republic Sentinel, a conservative news outlet owned and operated by Christians. He is a former staff reporter for The Daily Wire and has written for The Spectator, Campus Reform, and other conservative news outlets. Ben graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School with concentrations in business economics and marketing.
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