Party’s Over for National Chain With South Jersey Stores

There's not much of a party atmosphere in Party City's stores this Christmas, as employees were told five days before the holiday that its remaining company-owned stores would close shortly.

Party City's 26 New Jersey locations include Consumers Square, Mays Landing, Millville, Deptford, and Turnersville. The chain has over 700 remaining stores nationwide.

Party City was founded in New Jersey in 1986 and still has its corporate headquarters in the Garden State.

CEO Breaks Bad News To Surprise of Employees

In a corporate-wide meeting on Friday, CEO Barry Litwin told employees Friday that Party City is “winding down” operations immediately and Friday would be their last day of employment.

“That is without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver,” Litwin said at the meeting held on a video conference call, according to CNN.

“It’s really important for you to know that we’ve done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome,” Litwin said. “Unfortunately, it’s necessary to commence a winddown process immediately.”

Party City staffers were also told at the meeting that they would not be receiving a severance package and their benefits would be ending.

Other Party City store employees received letters that the company would close down stores on February 28, at which point store staff would be terminated.

Party City's Troubled Past

Party City's troubles have been going on for years. The company finally entered bankruptcy in 2023 with about $1.8 billion in debt.

The bankruptcy let Party City stop the bleeding for a time by closing more than 60 stores, including one in New Jersey. That brought the debt down by $1 billion and Party City avoided liquidation, a fate that brought down other retail chains like Bed Bath & Beyond.

But, CNN says, it still had more than $800 million in debt to overcome, which strained earnings this year.

The word is that Party City, the largest retailer of party goods in the United States, ran out of cash and was behind on its rent in some of its 750 remaining stores across the country.

An Emotional Ending

CNN says employees had little idea what was coming on Friday because management hadn’t mentioned any potential financial trouble at recent town hall meetings.

The employees said management had expressed optimism about Party City’s overall business.

On the call with staff Friday, Litwin apologized for the lack of communication.

“We recognize the flow of communication has not been how we typically handle sensitive matters like this,” Litwin said.

The report says Party City’s Chief Human Resources Officer Karen McGowan broke down in tears several times on the conference call while telling employees the bad news about their benefits and severance packages.