Party City In Hazlet To Close: Report

HAZLET, NJ — Party City is going out of business, closing all remaining stores in New Jersey (including in Hazlet) and 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.

"That is without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver," Litwin said at the meeting, which was held 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 has 25 New Jersey locations, including in Bridgewater, Clark, Hazlet, Howell, Jersey City, Paramus, Princeton, Wayne and more.

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, New Jersey-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.

As part of Party City’s 2023 bankruptcy filing, its debt was reduced by $1 billion and equity shares were turned over to the retailer’s lenders. More than 60 stores, most of them in Kansas, New York, Missouri and Kentucky, were closed as part of the 2023 bankruptcy strategy.