Bye Bye Party City

Party City’s doomed end

When you went to Party City, you didn’t just go there to shop for decorations, balloons or costumes, you went there to have a good time. Dare I say, a party? That is what I imagine Steve Mandell hoped for when he opened up his first Party City store in 1986. 

Mandell scraped together  $125,000, and opened up a store in East Hanover, New Jersey, and named it Party City. It grew like Jack’s beanstalk. Unfortunately, after 39 years, the fairytale has ended. 

Party City has closed all but 29 locations in the United States. Everybody and their uncles have shopped at Party City for festivities and celebrations like birthday parties, gender reveals, holidays, weddings and much, much more decorating fun. But eventually the fun ended, the balloons popped, and all the piñatas broke. After 39 years, some locations will remain open, such as in Hawaii, Texas, California and Virginia. 

For years Party City provided people across America with essential party needs, like decorations, balloons, and Halloween costumes. According to NPR’s article, "So long, Party City, and  thanks for all the balloons, " Theresa Peverly, who lives in Illinois, says "The first and only place we shopped was Party City — that's where you went."

It was all the rave in the late 1990’s to early 2010’s. According to Wikipedia, “In 2011, Party City expanded outside the United States with the acquisition of the Canadian retailer Party Packagers, making Party City the largest party goods retailer in North America.” 

The Party Ends

Party City hit the wall of bankruptcy because it expanded too fast. It also ended up with a lot of debt.  “In 2012, Party City was bought by private equity in a deal funded with massive debt, which was loaded onto the company.”  (Wikipedia)

All the debt and the expansion weakened the financial integrity of the company. Then the pandemic came. Although Party City did its best to remain a float with the other competitors, its stocks kept dipping. Its inability to keep up with retailers such as Amazon, Costco, Dollar Tree, and Spirit Halloween, forced Party City to claim bankruptcy twice: once in January 2023, which they hoped would bring the company back stronger. The second bankruptcy started in December 2024. Since then, Party City has had many stores close. The remaining stores are owned by other companies, or by franchise owners who managed to keep it open.  

Though Party City is no longer, its name will always be remembered as the go to spot for party supplies. I want to commemorate Party City for its great run. On a side note, I now want to visit a Party City store sometime.