The well-known American chain store "Party City" has been established for about 40 years and has more than 800 physical stores. Unexpectedly, it recently announced its closure and ceased operations. Not only are all stores about to close, CEO Barry Litwin also announced on the 20th that employees will be laid off, and the company will not pay severance pay.
Image Source: AFP
Party City is the largest party supplies chain brand in the United States. It provides tableware, ribbons, balloons, decorations and other festive decoration supplies, ranging from birthdays, weddings, baby gender parties, to holiday themes such as Halloween, Christmas or New Year's Eve. Many consumers spend happy hours. Party City announced the "End of Business Sale" on social media last Saturday (21st). On the 20th, employees received an internal letter and learned that the store would only be open until February 28th next year.
Image Source: Facebook (Party City)
According to CNN reports, Party City declared bankruptcy as early as January last year. From 2022 to August 2024, it closed more than 80 branches and barely maintained the operation of about 800 stores. However, it still lost more than US$ 800 million of liabilities. Employees who suddenly faced unemployment were furious, saying that in recent meetings, senior management did not mention the company's financial problems, and some managers were even optimistic about the company's operations. CEO Litwin also apologized at a meeting on the 20th for not communicating well with employees.
CNN pointed out that Party City has approximately 6,400 full-time and 10,100 part-time employees in 2021. As large e-commerce chains such as Amazon, Costco, and Walmart entered the market, Party City gradually lost its competitiveness. Coupled with fatal factors such as inflation, rising living costs, and a shortage of helium, the raw material for balloons, Party City faced bankruptcy and eventually went bankrupt. situation.
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