Report: Party City to go out of business; 16 Washington stores will be affected
Dec 20, 2024, 7:14 PM
A Party City store in Illinois is seen on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (File photo: Nam Y. Huh, AP)
(File photo: Nam Y. Huh, AP)
After nearly 40 years in business, Party City is closing down all of its stores, according to a report Friday from CNN.
Party City CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees Friday in a meeting that CNN viewed the company is “winding down” operations immediately and Friday would be the workers’ final day of employment.
Staff also were told they won’t receive severance pay and their benefits would end when the company goes out of business.
“That is without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver,” Litwin said at the meeting CNN was able to view, which was held on a video conference call.
The news network also reported Friday that some of the Party City store employees received letters informing them the company would close down stores on Feb. 28, 2025. Once the stores closed, all store staff will be terminated.
MyNorthwest reached out to a company spokesperson about the status of the company Friday but has not heard back. It is not known if the listed spokesperson is still working for the company.
Party City locations in the state of Washington
There were 16 Party City stores in the state of Washington before company’s announcement. Most of them were in the area of Western Washington between Everett and Olympia, but they are located throughout the state. There were no stores in Seattle. But they were in areas near that city, including locations in Bellevue, Lynnwood and Woodinville.
These Washington municipalities have Party City stores:
| Bellevue | Puyallup |
| Burlington | Richland |
| Covington | Silverdale |
| Everett | Spokane Valley |
| Federal Way | Tukwila |
| Lakewood | Union Gap |
| Lynnwood | Vancouver |
| Olympia | Woodinville |
More on Party City: Chain declared bankruptcy before
Founded in 1986, in Hanover, New Jersey, the Party City website still bills the company as “the largest party retailer in North America” with more than 850 stores across the U.S. They just opened new corporate headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, in 2022.
As the company website also explains, Party City sells a variety of party supplies. This includes more than 100 different birthday themes, for both kids and adults. In addition, the retail chain sells balloons, piñatas and party favors. Stores also sell accessories and decorations for many theme parties, and costumes and decorations for every major U.S. holiday, particularly Halloween.
Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023 after struggling with rising prices and a pullback in customer spending.
The company said at that time its franchise stores, subsidiaries outside of the U.S. and its foil balloons Anagram business are not part of the restructuring and will remain core components of its business.
Party City Holdco Inc., said its company-owned and franchise stores throughout North America will remain open, and customers can still shop on the company website.
The company managed to exit bankruptcy later that year, but it was considering a second bankruptcy recently, Bloomberg reported.
This news comes on the same day another large retailer, discount chain Big Lots, said it is conducting going-out-of-business sales at its remaining locations after a sale of the company didn’t materialize.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.
