National Retailer Closing All CT Stores Immediately

CONNECTICUT — Party City is the next once-mighty chain to be closing up shop in Connecticut and across the nation.

Party City is going out of business, and closing all remaining stores, ending its 40-year reign as the go-to party supplier in the country, according to CNN reporters who viewed a meeting of the company’s corporate employees Friday.

CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees the company is "winding down" operations and Friday was their last day of employment.

There were no hints of an imminent shuttering at the Enfield store and a customer exiting the business said it seemed to be well-stocked. Meanwhile, a staffer answering the phone at the Manchester store said it would likely be shuttered by the end of February.

"That is without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver," Litwin said at the meeting, which took place on a video conference call. Party City's "very best efforts have not been enough to overcome" its financial challenges, he added, resulting in the company's collapse.

Party City's store in Connecticut include:

• Manchester
• Enfield
• East Hartford
• Newington
• Simsbury
• Waterbury
• Waterford
• Orange
• Hamden
• Fairfield
• Hartford
• Norwalk
• Stamford

The move was expected. Several news outlets have reported the company was on the verge of collapse and had plans for its second bankruptcy filing in two years.

The Woodcliff Lake, NJ-based party supply and craft retailer emerged from its first bankruptcy in September 2023 with $800 million in debt on the balance sheets that it cannot overcome, Bloomberg News reported.

The chain was hit hard when people stopped having parties during the COVID-19 pandemic and has struggled since with supply chain issues and inflation. The company also has said a helium shortage hurt its business. The retailer also faces growing competition from big-box retailers such as Walmart and Target and holiday pop-up stores such as Spirit Halloween.