BUST: The Party is Over for Party City
Although we’d love to keep things festive and bright this holiday season and report just on future trends and greatest hits of 2024, the sad reality is that some retailers can’t keep the lights on. According to CNN, Party City is the latest retailer to announce that it is closing all its stores and going out of business.
The 40-year-old MULO (multi-location) brand had a great run but couldn’t dig itself out of $800M in debt. Party City had hired a new CEO (Barry Litwin) and exited bankruptcy a month after his arrival.
They kept most of their remaining 800 stores open after that time but then started closing locations.
Competitors like Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other retailers have taken a big bite of the party supply cake (category). Seasonal retailers like The Spirit of Halloween adopted a pop-up model. The cost of keeping so many brick-and-mortar stores stocked with holiday supplies and staffed throughout the seasons in the face of their aggressive and creative competitors proved too much for Party City.
Will we see the party start up again sometime in the future? If the trajectory of Bed Bath & Beyond is an example, we know that sometimes through bankruptcy brands can keep their name alive, just in a different configuration or as a part of another brand.
Other retailers like Macy’s have experimented with smaller footprints.
So, grab those New Years Eve balloons and funky 2025 glasses before the lights go out. Retail will party on, but maybe in new finery!
