The Decline of Party City...What Happened?

[@bug5258]

I'm a store manager at party city and it was a shock when we got the news..... we had just received new equipment for the store and new training for associates.... then merry Christmas we're closing.....

[@NakamuraSatou]

This is honestly so sad

[@SammiTheSweetheart327]

😢

[@MrBrick1981]

This really sucks, Kmart did the same thing to me many years ago.

[@thehellezell]

that sucks, sorry to hear and hopefully the new year brings new opportunities

[@lunab3118]

Yes, the same is happening with us at Big Lots. I hope they are giving you severance. BL isn’t offering it anymore

[@christinescreativitycabine280]

You didn't mention Dollar Tree as a competitor. Dollar Tree has a huge selection of party supplies, balloons, greeting cards, gift wrap, and holiday decorations, all for $1.25. They're good quality, too. For many people, they are the go-to store in this category.

[@drcat1313]

Unless you have to blow up the balloons or stock those party supplies. It's a nightmare at any store stocking party supplies. Especially because it's all junk and trash

[@yell0wberry]

Dollar tree is about to close almost 500 locations themselves

[@drcat1313]

@@yell0wberry Yea because the family dollar purchase killed them. I worked for both companies. Dollar tree never regained the purchase price of family dollar and the running cost. So it was a total loss in the end. Dollar general ran them up so high. What dollar tree paid was not worth it.

[@drchickensalad]

Private equity is almost never the first nail lol. Its the second or third

[@prtdiva]

Yup. I immediately thought about dollar tree. They have a really decent party section. And they also stock their stores holiday supplies for the season (i.e. St.Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, 4th of July etc.) Once dollar tree arrived I no longer needed party city with the exception of helium for my balloons.

[@adraino7345]

Rebrand as a novelty liquor store and call it After Party.

[@pietd4781]

Good title

[@kshinokevin]

as long as they don't sell boxes of Johnson & Johnson baby oil for an infamous former Bad Boys record producer. There is also a seasonal "pop up" store (kiosk) called "Spirit of Halloween."

[@kevinflores2011]

Fuuuuck...it's genius. Why didn't I think of it?

[@zacharywalker524]

And if that doesn't work, you can create another one called The hangover

[@letit023]

Actually that not a bad idea, it could work

[@OrthwormJEB]

I feel bad for the employees that work in Party City. Imagine hearing that you're losing your job around the holiday season. I wish all those affected by this luck on finding a new job.

[@4MATIC_SC]

At my store most of us are late high school students so we are part time. It’s sad that we are closing, but we are hopeful for more job opportunities soon 🤞. FROM MY VIEW, we are all very close. Most of us have each others numbers and we always talk to each other when we work and have fun so I’m definitely gonna miss them. But I can’t speak for them lol

[@gromithere]

I think people underestimate just how much Party City relied on balloons. As a former Party City store manager, I can attest that many stores were QUITE busy and balloons accounted for a large portion of that. It was definitely the behind the scenes actions of the private equity firms that killed Party City.

[@Not_Always]

Ngl, I kind of laughed when someone said their job was 'Balloon Lead'

[@44meganrose]

@@Not_Alwaysthat was a joke title. It was also the last straw for me. I was an assistant manager and then a merchandise specialist and then a balloon lead. There’s more titles but I can’t remember. My job never changed. It was ridiculous.

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

Then, it is good they are closing because balloons are trash.

[@TraumaER]

@@MatthewTheWanderercorrection: overpriced 🗑️

[@christopherch6914]

even our grocey stores are doing ballons even though there lack of to be able to blow the balloons up

[@joeboggio4002]

The doom words: "Private equity."

[@RikkiSan1]

I legit was waiting for it watching the vid

[@WeedShaggy]

Once Private Equity was mentioned, we all knew what would happen to Party City.

[@Hodaggium]

Private equity is the worst thing. It happened to ShopKo, which was my favorite store for everything they had. It was rumored that the same private equity company had plans to buy Kohl's as well.

[@jcchaconjr]

Yep, “Private Equity” usually hands the first nail in the coffin for many a company…

[@bshingledecker]

AKA Venture Capital.

[@companyman114]

Hope everyone has a great holiday today. I appreciate you spending a little part of it here.

[@Jemi08]

Merry christmas 🎄

[@jacksonwellons]

Thanks, same to you!!

[@user-sz7uu6qp5f]

Happy birthday🎉

[@britslogohistory9190]

It's all of our pleasures

[@LuckyHitter_30]

Merry Christmas!!!

[@MeganTako]

I was a director in their corporate offices and found out on that it was my last day on Friday, along with 400 or so other people via email… at 4 am pst. No notice, no legally owed severance. We had a very strong Halloween and had been seeing y/y growth on the ecommerce side. We found out that the executive team knew they had no choice but to close 10 days prior.

[@626jean]

Ugh. Sad and infuriating.

[@Jojo-ss8ou]

Sorry to hear this. I can relate from PCC Can

[@stevekuzenski1651]

why do you think a severance was legally required?

[@eugenetswong]

Takahata, you were on the board of directors?

[@MeganTako]

@ no I worked at corporate

[@nknasi]

Surprise, surprise, another company laid to waste by the vultures of private equity saddling a company with unsustainable debt just to give themselves a fat dividend to buy another yacht with. It's disgusting and should be illegal.

[@james_chatman]

Even worse they bilked suppliers and stiffed them in bankruptcy. Just all-around scum.

[@timduncan6750]

Thinking the same - private equity burning yet another company.

[@StargazerLily82]

Guarantee you Barry Litwin walks away with a glorious golden parachute for his several months of work dismantling the company.

[@bobroberts2371]

So why don't YOU start buying companies and do a better job?

[@andrewkaye2108]

I think its hard to run any "niche" shop and be successful, time after time. Spirit is like that, but they WISELY only run it until Halloween is over, then disappear until next October. Yes, parties are a year round thing, but I still think they should have added multiple niches, Liquor, fireworks, idk. Or go the Spirit route and open temp stores for each holiday. Between July 4th and Halloween there is down time for holiday themed parties, for example.

[@IraJavier]

My family had party store late 90s early 2000s. Party City opened and took a majority of our customers. To compete, we delivered for more than 24 balloon or over $50, gave customers an oversized plastic bag to protect their balloons and essentially a baker's dozen in case a balloon popped in the car. We did personalized invitations too and souvenir/giveaways. We decorated for weddings/bdays parties. We worked with local caterers, flower stors and cake shops. Still it was rough and we closed mid 2000s. I can't imagine how our business would have gone with digital invitations, helium prices, ban of plastic bags (in our city), and fuel cost/inflation.

[@violetworld541]

So sad to hear that. I'm wondering what business did your family switch to?

[@WoahiFoundNemo]

That sounds like some great service

[@IraJavier]

@violetworld541 We didn't open another business. My mom and siblings attained their own jobs, and I went to college and finance since. Still, I value my experience from that. Learned a lot, and being involved setting up parties at the turn of the millenium was something else. I'll tell you one thing... despite being underaged and underdressed... clubs/bars/events will let you in without question as long as you're delivering like a dozen balloons. lol

[@violetworld541]

@@IraJavier Well, that's good to know your family is doing well despite the closure. :) LOL. Lucky you, balloons are special!

[@100percentSNAFU]

There was a great locally owned party supply store near where I live that also went out of business a few years ago. It was a shame because they were competitive in their pricing and had a way better selection than Party City or any of the big box stores.

[@MxCartney_Lou]

You should do Big Lots for the next installment

[@MirzaAhmed89]

And The Container Store after that.

[@mikaross4671]

I used to work at Big Lots in 2016-2017. I would be super hyped to see his video on that company.

[@jeffhatmaker817]

I was disappointed to read about Big Lot's demise. I liked their quality furniture offerings, but I never understood why they tried to compete in grocery items.

[@switch4960]

It was strange to go to in the late 90’s for cheap, often previously unsold toys. My parents didn’t have a lot of money and this was where we shopped for this sort of thing. They really have changed a lot since then.

[@JELL0521]

@@switch4960I used to go a lot to Mac Frugals with my family in the late 90’s before Big Lots took over. In the 2000’s I used to go for toys, cheap computer games, CDs , etc. I remember getting my copy of guitar hero world tour here too…

[@Riverbend1752]

It's so sad that private equity can come in, milk a company for everything it has, killing it in the process, and then just walk away with profit. There needs to be some sort of change to stop this, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to know how to go about that, plus the private equity firms can spend a lot of those profits on lobbying to ensure they can continue their methods.

[@GENIUSA1A]

Long as private equity wins more than they lose. They don’t care. They collect a management fee from their investors regardless.

[@Caterfree10]

@@Riverbend1752 ayup. I wish we could figure out a good way to legislate this nonsense away. I know I have a separate comment wishing for them to be outlawed. But without some sort of actionable plan, I struggle to see them ever going away. At least, not anytime soon. 😞

[@drcat1313]

Leverage buy outs only exist in the USA because they make no sense. It's even worse you can buy a company just based on capital then transfer a bunch of debt to that company then bankrupt the company. RIP toyrus and kbtoys

[@bluegold1026]

Private equity needs to be illegal.

[@pulaski1]

​@@bluegold1026It would be just about impossible to make "private equity" illegal without making "buying shares" illegal, because all "private equity" _means_ is "we've bought all the shares". When you own all the shares, you _are_ the business, so then the question becomes "how do you stop a business owner borrowing more money?" And who knows what the answer looks like. Maybe tax dividends funded with debt, or even _prohibit_ dividends funded with debt, for example by accounting for new debt by placing it in a non-distributable reserve. (Yes, I am a CPA. 😊)

[@KillteeLenny]

Spirit licking it's lips right now

[@ElijahRock92]

Spirit Party: Coming 2025

[@SammiTheSweetheart327]

I hate that place lol😅

[@incognitonegress]

Or, party spirit ​@@ElijahRock92

[@Chowderchef]

I personally know a regional for spirit halloween, they are already getting ready to take empty party city spaces LOL

[@gordontaylor2815]

@@Chowderchef As year-round operating stores or simply "We'd like to stake out this space for next year, please"?

[@Chaosrunepownage]

The sudden bankruptcy can be seen at my local store: they had a sign on the door saying "now hiring!" and right above it "store closing! everything 50% off!" Curse private equity firms.

[@emilycheever3218]

Same by me!

[@pankfibsh]

im currently working for party city so i guess i have some unique perspective, one of the things that threw everyone here for a loop is that in august, we started doing renovations at many of our locations in NY. At somepoint around october the new CEO was supposed to come around to our stores to inspect them (he never made it to my store there was always some excuse as to why) amd apparently he didnt like some of the renovations in our sister stores, so they were going to do another renovation on top of it. we all found out thursday, my Store team lead found out at like 8-9am and was nearly crying the entire time, and one girl from corporate came in a few days later saying that everyone was just laid off as they found out. all i know is we're still doing online orders (no delivery) until january 2nd and wether we have stock left or not we are completely closing our doors on feburary 28th. if anyone else has any more questions about it i can try and answer but seeing as im not from corporate i dont have a more full picture

[@Reply-ing]

I'd like to ask you a few questions, where can I reach you at?

[@kevinswitz875]

Store 478 the goat

[@a.d.t.o.y.]

I also work at pc, at one of the busiest locations in the DMV. we just had our renovation last April, and this came as a surprise to most of us. I spent most of my last 2 years of hs working at pc. it sucks, but it is what it is.

[@JonFlores275]

As a kid of the 90s, visiting Party City during the Halloween season was always my favorite thing to do. The ENTIRE store was head to toe Halloween, fog machines blasting, Spooky music through the intercoms, and once you got to the back section you could smell the latex from the ceiling high mask display. It helped me become the holiday fanatic I am today. Went to a Party City a handful of months ago and was sad to see the state of it. Not only did everything just clearly seem as leftover and not taken care of, but the prices for what are mostly one-time-use products were beyond insane. . If you go 10 minutes down the road, there is a local party supply store that damn near captured the same feeling I had as a kid. Their prices are genuinely reasonable, and it feels FUN in there. I'll miss the Party City I knew as a child, and oddly grateful for the impact it made on my life.

[@skrachvynl]

To think that you have been doing this for so long, we can see in real time videos you've made about the rise and fall, years apart. Happy holidays! I'm looking forward to 2025.

[@zachbush7923]

The rise, fall, rise again, and fall again of party city lol

[@marcushickey5353]

Please do a Big Lots update since they are close to closing. My wife has worked there for the past 12 years.

[@reenakemp9132]

How's is she doing? Did she see it coming?

[@yell0wberry]

It’s official, they are closing, every single location

[@z0mbabe]

Its not close. Theyre also closing. My local one already has the signs out

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

@@yell0wberry Good! I thought they went out of business years ago!

[@KristenZianourry2015]

@@yell0wberry crazy thing is how they built a new location new building and everything in my hometown just to shut it down a year later

[@brandoniswhoiam]

For those who wanna still go to Party City, Canada still has them… due to being owned by Canadian Tire.

[@SerenaMunson]

Although we dont have target atleast we still have party city and toys r us

[@jennkivell2381]

Our stores aren’t closing then?

[@derekofbaltimore]

Dammit man. This one hit hard. I worked there for 21years and have a lot of friends still there who will soon be jobless...

[@benwasserman8223]

Party City was always the go-to Halloween destination. The problem is Halloween only comes once a year. So outside October, PC struggled to make us interested in its offers for the other eleven months.

[@MBarberfan4life]

I was thinking the same thing. I never thought of them as doing anything else

[@christopherthibeault7502]

You have to fill a gap, but sometimes you have to make people aware of a gap. Sometimes, you have to say, "Hey listen, there's this new kind of silly fad party you can have, and we happen to have a few things that could make that happen!" So, instead of us arguing about minutiae over the internet relay chats, we can spend a little for some props and celebrate something locally. The trick is to advertise it and to have just what's needed. Instead of relying on the seasons and dates, Party City makes their own. Some might not catch on, but a few just might.

[@TheOmniBoo]

Meanwhile spirit Halloween just pops up for the Halloween season and then dips for the rest of the year

[@benwasserman8223]

@ It’s odd, but a much smarter business strategy.

[@Sephiroth766]

@@TheOmniBoo he made a video about them and explained why they're successful

[@AuntieTaco]

I used to go to Party City all the time, it was my favorite place to shop as an artist who liked to use unusual things in my pieces. But sadly I stopped going to the 3 local ones a while ago. I had noticed more and more the stores had a strange musty, almost water damaged mold smell to them. That smell got into the products and you just couldn't get rid of it. At first I thought it was just maybe a roof leak at the one closest to me, but then I noticed it at the other 2 local ones. Very strange. I had started to wonder if it wasn't the building but had occurred at the supply warehouse. Sadly that smell continued to be there for the longest time. That's why I just stopped shopping there.

[@silverfoxchain]

I know what u mean! I went to one like 3 years ago and stopped going due to long lines and the smell while waiting.

[@cberrose2029]

Wth? Lmao

[@thenymphia]

i used to work at one, i can confirm there was a musty smell all of the time, the feeling i got going home from work was similar to how u feel after being outside doing stuff all day but w a hint of mold/dust

[@KrystalJINX]

I work in the main distributing warehouse (literally the only warehouse left) for party city for the past 5 years and we got the letter last week that we are shutting down out of nowhere. It really shocked everyone because the management were making it seem like we were doing good because we have been so busy. Even my supervisors didn’t even know about this decision. It really sucks especially losing all benefits and not getting severance pay. 😑 management sucked and retail didnt sell enough so RIP party city and my job lol

[@joelcruz9415]

At least there are plenty of warehouses hiring. Good luck out there.

[@SueP-D]

Corporations have no soul.

[@yell0wberry]

Amazon is hiring

[@josephpurdy8390]

I worked for retailer years ago. I had a co-worker who showed up to work one day. He was laid off, but it wasn't just him. It was the entire department nationwide. He told me a similar story. We both knew that someone knew. The curiosity of letting him know to save his own fuel wasn't of any of their concern.

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

@@yell0wberry Only some of their locations are hiring.

[@rpowers145323]

Party City was my first job ever, from 2004-2008. Worked 4 Halloweens straight, and even helped to expand the store to a larger location. Fun fact: each balloon only cost us $0.03 (that's helium, string, and the balloon itself), and we would charge $9.99/dozen.

[@Baddknewz]

Can you do a video on Crocs and how they went from $15 Walmart shoes to $40 shoes that everybody seems to wear?

[@ezfox2825]

I use to work at Party City in the 90s. There was so much theft I never thought they stayed open this long. Also, the balloons are cheaper everywhere else

[@lexihunter9276]

I worked at party City this year for the Halloween season and I can tell you the theft is still a huge problem

[@jdgx95]

im legitimately shocked to hear they sold so much stuff i knew they went through a lot of Halloween costumes in October but my local party city has had so much dead stock filling up the store when i was a kid they had a rack of "learn to play the pokemon tcg" VHS tapes near the register and to this day i still spontaneously see those tapes aimlessly floating around the store whenever i visit

[@kolonarulez5222]

You should grab one next you see it that is really cool. My local Kmart before it closed had similar with copies of the Open Season movies

[@d.52555]

The same tapes?! If so, just grab it

[@thederpypikachu9873]

Definitely grab one if you see them again!

[@Toastwoodtones]

party city was my first job, i remember constantly having to explain the helium shortage to customers when we would run out and be waiting for a shipment (sometimes multiple days with no helium) and that was the big money maker for their off seasons. it became very obvious very quickly how big of a money waster most stores were, slow traffic, a LOT of days spent standing around with no customers in the store. my store closed down 3 or 4 months after i left, sadly its not shocking to see where theyve ended up.

[@HumanThing-fm6xt]

A local Party City closed in my area a couple years ago. One of my most prevalent memories about that location is me filling my pockets with all the candy from the Candy City section as a kid. Since its closure, my family and I would always joke that the Party City closed down due to me stealing all the candy

[@mohappy236]

Private Equity also killed Toys R Us and 99 cents only stores .

[@yell0wberry]

Amazon killed everything. Let’s be honest with ourselves. By the time, 2030 gets here, the majority of retail business will be online orders and a bunch of trucks going up and down the street delivering to all the homes and apartments. You will see Amazon trucks, Walmart trucks, Kroger trucks, and Instacart trucks.

[@PacificNorthwestExploratio-k9j]

And so did covid

[@mohappy236]

@PacificNorthwestExploratio-k9j Toys R Us was loaded up on debt by private equity long before covid

[@mohappy236]

@@yell0wberry Yeah let's be HONEST 99 cent stores were a profitable business before during and after Amazon. 99 cent stores were loaded up by debt from private equity that's why they closed

[@mohappy236]

@@PacificNorthwestExploratio-k9j Toys R Us were loaded up on debt and killed by private equity long before Covid

[@diecastcollector7982]

ive been to party city many times for the past couple of years i went before covid it had people shopping but ever since everyone went to online shopping stores like this really have declined ever since

[@CVerse]

If an entire company can leave everyone jobless without prior notice, there’s no way you should expect anyone to put in their 2 weeks

[@ShadyRK9]

R.I.P. Party City. I use to go there for my Halloween outfits. Also Merry Christmas! 🎅🎄🎁🛍

[@jadacampbell9331]

Try spirit

[@vincentbuono4]

I'm also a new store manager in the Charolette NC district, I was with the company for 2 years then got my own store. This really hit harder than I thought it would.. when I finally found a company I really liked working for and having a great team this happens... 😢 I've been watching your videos a lot and was always wondering if you'd do a video on us

[@NottherealKyleLarson]

Gee you can count on company man for spreading Christmas joy this holiday

[@delia_watercolors]

I loved Party City growing up. But my local store's prices were quite high considering the poor quality. I started buying everything online, even the balloons. I take extravagant balloons i buy online to the local dollar store and pay to fill them up there. Since doing that, i've saved a lot of money.

[@brendanhunter389]

Appeeciate you uploading on christmas. These vids are a highlight of my wednesdays

[@alexbob5209]

I’m sure he records it like on Monday and schedules it for today on Christmas Day bro

[@larryinc64]

I used to work at one a couple years ago, and really their prices were too high for selling disposable junk. Most of the stuff there was stuff made to be used once and go in a landfill, and I was always shocked at how much the final total would be. There was a wide selection, but there were also tons of brands or licensed properties that were way past relevance clogging up shelves, our costume closet still had tie-ins to 8 year old box office bombs. Spirit Halloween has the right idea with only coming around that season and bailing, Halloween was always our busiest time of the year.

[@gargeluy3035]

Between five below, dollar tree, Walmart,and spirit I think we’ll have what we need but still sucks to see em go

[@Krisbcream1]

Party City was my first job from 2012-2015. It was always a staple store for Halloween as well as birthday parties and other festivities. It's really shocking how quick they declined over within the last few years or so

[@DonBrodkaJr]

I lost my virginity inside a Party City back in 2018.. Kinda sad to see it's had just as much success as I have since..

[@joshuagaray4330]

😂😂😂😂

[@incognitonegress]

U b alrite, chap!

[@RowletGod69]

?????? 😭

[@SheldonAdama17]

Aaaaaand the party’s over in more ways than one

[@SueP-D]

What the …???? 😂😂😂 🎶 memories..🎶

[@danieldowney7621]

Dude, Merry Christmas! This is a great gift, sorry I didn't get you anything!

[@MBarberfan4life]

I never really viewed it as very stable to begin with, given that I always associated it with just Halloween.

[@Caterfree10]

8:55 I long for the day private equity firms are outlawed, Jesus Christ. 🤬

[@dcseain]

Yeah, private equity firms have been a death knell for brick and mortar retail.

[@Charmedone9805]

They should be illegal

[@RikkiSan1]

They are like locust

[@PacificNorthwestExploratio-k9j]

Yeah exactly

[@Selfcustomfirearms]

There really isn’t a need for party city anymore…which is sad. You can basically order anything you need same day or next day from Walmart, Amazon, target and any other big supermarket/store. Party city wasn’t big enough to keep up and doesn’t have enough essential products to be a viable visit.

[@badbabybear1]

Another excellent breakdown. So many national brands are closing. Not a good sign for the economy, no matter what the mainstream media propaganda tries to convince us otherwise. Along with the reasons cited and private equity mentioned in the other comments, I'll suggest another factor is not as many people having kids and thus not buying as many party supplies. Making life unsustainable for so many people due to greed continues to have a domino effect.

[@SomeGuy71700]

That's a really good point

[@jonathanpercy6976]

I currently work for Party City myself. It is very sad that the company is no longer going to be open for business. But at least I will be bringing my experience to the next company that I will be applying for work once business is no more.

[@Argelius1]

Your videos are so consistently fascinating and polished. Glad you haven't run out of topics!

[@Wheeljack84]

You should do The Container Store next. They just filed for Chapter 11.

[@yourfuturewaifu9061]

Nooo! That store is awesome!

[@bigcrowfly]

Almost anything in the inventory you can get from Amazon. Usually delivery the next day for less $.

[@float32]

More often than not I go to a physical store and they just don’t have *anything* stocked.

[@TraumaER]

@@float32this. Amazon isn’t all that. It’s just that most stores don’t have crap on shelves and Amazon ends up being the best option.

[@bcabrera971]

Private Equity is like the Darkseid to company man videos. The ultimate evil.

[@ericariley1696]

Merry Christmas Company Man! Not only is Party City going out of business but so is Big Lots. I hope you will do a video on that store next.

[@asmrwolfofficial]

First blockbuster, now Kmart and now Party City like how much worse will it be. You were a great store Party City.

[@PacificNorthwestExploratio-k9j]

Even Sears and Big Lots

[@smartidiotsinc.985]

I got hired as my store was closing (mid November) and the plan for most employees there was to transfer to another one. I’ve always loved Party City which is why I wanted to work there and I’m more sad that it’s going as a customer than an employee

[@SheldonAdama17]

Sadly, you won’t have much of a chance to be a customer either :(

[@Fluoride_Jones]

I'm sorry how this all worked out for you as a loyal customer, employee and fan of Party City. Despite that, Merry Christmas. Life moves on, and we shouldn't dwell on the past, even if it's not quite here, yet. 🎅🙏

[@jumbobrian]

There was a Party City in my town growing up but I always associated it with graduations and birthdays, never Halloween, so it's crazy to me that it was such a large portion of their sales

[@Caterfree10]

Same and also birthdays. Hell, my local party city literally set aside a bunch of color combos for the local high schools around graduation time, so it was easy to get what you needed for those parties. And sure, I’ve certainly gotten costume parts at party city too, but it was used year round in my family, especially after a local holiday store closed after a fire savaged it. >

[@prettypic444]

I’m not surprised Party City is going out of business. “The party city X” has been a byword for “cheap, inaccurate, and poorly made” for a while now

[@Whynotmini]

its now "those are some temu ass X"

[@cosmicminun59]

0:51 Essentially this is the case of a company's rise and fall ...and rise again ......and fall again

[@anonuser5323]

I have empathy for the employees who had to hear about this just a few days before the holiday season. I would often go there to pick up & shop for DoorDash orders. I’ve done DoorDash in multiple states and any Party City location that I’ve been to has been an unorganized mess & usually the items the customer wants are out of stock. Plus, some items were priced higher than other places. I personally try not to shop on Amazon (Dollar Twenty Five Tree is too much of a mess for me) as much as possible so I hope that someone, online or brick and mortar, does fill the gap.

[@detailsmove]

perfect company to talk about on Christmas

[@junequintana3984]

Merry Christmas. Thank you for giving us a great video today.

[@Strongarm_11]

Merry Christmas Company Man!

[@BookHen-xn2bh]

Never shopped at Party City. I do not throw parties, I enjoy sitting quietly at home. Now, if there was a store called "Introverts are Us" I might shop there.

[@bronwynecg]

Yeeeesssssss!!!! I would shop there all the time! 😅👍🏽

[@nknasi]

I would visit that store! Virtually, or course, from home.

[@Tecknee]

It’s called Amazon unfortunately

[@LucasDiblasio]

That store is either IKEA or Target.

[@jamila2957]

I would be a shareholder.

[@Neckrollios18]

Merry Christmas Company Man! To you, and all your viewers!

[@rollercobster2142]

I would really enjoy seeing a company decline video on Cisco Systems. They've been closing down branches and have been going downhill the last few years

[@josephmurillo8043]

Competition from other vendors I guess. There are many routers and switches of other brands that are way cheaper than Cisco.

[@rollercobster2142]

@ I don't remember what it was but I think they also did some shady type stuff as well

[@maximillianlylat1589]

A fastfood job of mine used to have sysco as a supplier for years until 2022ish i think, now they are with mclane

[@lillexus5589]

​@@rollercobster2142built in backdoors is what you are referring to. Especially funny when you consider the fact that Huawei was a "potential national risk" despite the evidence being lackluster, where Cisco was caught red handed.

[@inranglhood60]

Hmm... Buy a dozen balloons from the dollar store or buy a single balloon for the same price at Party City 🤔... This is difficult!!!! 🤣

[@Quinn-Harrison]

They were my favorite spot for acrylic decorations!!!!💔 cheap and cute acrylic containers! Other places be charging like $25 for a party city $5 container

[@thederpypikachu9873]

My family would go there for any extra Halloween costume accessories, since my grandma made the main part of our costumes for us. We also would go for balloons, and occasionally other random things for school or extracurricular spirit days or themed days. Now I work at a different retail company and we literally started doing balloons right when I began working there specifically to compete with Party City. I've had a bunch of people get balloons and I sit and blow them up because I'm often the only one who legally can (age + training), the only one who is confident in tying balloons, and sometimes the only one who isn't terrified of the balloons popping. I still remember stopping in to PC for feather boas or a random tutu. I might have to run in and grab a tutu and boa of each color just for the kicks lmao

[@Wheretheportlandorarealadiesat]

We were all Asking for this recently and my man company man delivered it 🎉😂❤

[@thehistorytheorist]

Looks like Spirit Halloween is about to get plenty of cheap leases for new locations

[@BaileyMagikz]

Merry Christmas and have a happy new year , Company Man

[@Oat_meal_YT]

Merry Christmas

[@PXAbstraction]

Once more with feeling: Private equity ruins everything.

[@Cheaty_Four]

And now Big Lots! I remember you did a video on them, will you do another?

[@ArthurSanford3706]

Kids these days will never know the joy of receiving the party city catalog in October to pick out your Halloween costume

[@iced_latteZ]

Party city failed to adapt. I went there for high school quite a bit for spirit day or whatever and get my school colors since you could basically get anything there in every color. Their Halloween selection is sooooo much worse the spirit. They need to double down for more holidays imo rather then just be “generic party place” and advertise it as so. I have never seen a party city ad for 4th of July, Easter or even Christmas. Idk leaving money on the table

[@ruftime]

Private Equity😂😱🤣 The current flavor of Corporate Raiders.

[@Sisslie]

Merry Christmas, Company Man! Thank you for reminding me it's Wednesday every Wednesday. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and new year

[@caseymorton3741]

My theory to this store and others such as big lots to them going down is because everyone shops online (mostly Amazon) it’s sad. Us consumers need to keep shopping in stores more again or we’re not going to have any options left besides online… it’s so sad

[@jillhoffman9179]

But PC had a crummy in store experience, even for those of us who try not to shop online

[@vexx12343]

Why their stores are cluttered and stressful to shop not to mention prices go up and customer device is not existent. People rather shop from the comfort of their home

[@Lovely2291]

Christmas Spirit is hilarious because its just spooky Christmas stuff. I had no idea there was that much spooky Christmas stuff for them to even make a whole store for it.

[@ItsTrinton]

Not much to say... I went to party city once or twice to look for things but didn't really find what I was looking for so yeah inventory selection was an issue. They also probably could have done a better job offer theme-packs. 5 year old's birthday party, they like trains? We got trains for days: napkins, plates, cake toppers, etc. Make it really convenient to plan something and really be a 1-stop shop.

[@watchdogsgarbagetruck8324]

Merry Christmas CompanyMan. Been watching since late 2019, and this one surprised me. I'm from Puerto Rico and have great memories of going to the Party City in Caguas, it feels so surreal to hear that the company is falling apart.

[@aurorealcayde1647]

“Go back to Party City where you belong”

[@mattycooldude6462]

“Party City go back to 1999 where they belong”

[@felixmaldonado8091]

My parents met while working at party city and have been working for the company for 25+ years. They knew it was only a matter of time before the company tanks. I remember their concern of competition when Amazon began rising. It’s a shame though how they had to find out 1 day before the rest of the world did, not a lot of time to take action. Like the company can’t give their workers a “2 week notice” but expect it from them. Thankfully now they’re securing positions elsewhere.🙏

[@BIGJ03SGPHS]

As much as I love Spirit Halloween their prices are way too high I don't see this much competition to party City

[@kyle_wessling]

I've honestly been waiting for this. I work in a mall with a Party City and there is never anyone in the store when I walk by almost daily so to me it was only a matter of time.

[@bingofromblueyfan]

It’s sad what happened and big lots did something similar after their bankruptcy

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

Yep seemed like Big Lots would handle online shopping but nope.

[@bingofromblueyfan]

@ yeah also both are insanely similar both had trouble with competition and inflation and then not even a day after big lots announces closing of all their stores party city does the same

[@Kingmuhammad92]

As soon as I heard they’re closing, I immediately couldn’t wait for your video 🙌🏽

[@jasonz7788]

Great job thanks 👍

[@Deerdirector]

I went to the mall and saw a party city that said store closed, I assumed it was just that it hadn't opened yet since the mall just opened for the day, but my mom told me that all party cities are closing. I hated that as it was one of my favorite stores compared to Toys R Us, which was my favorite childhood store.

[@hexist_]

I'm not one to the people that are loosing their jobs, but I worked for Party City for 5 years in CA (started in 2014), I built 2 stores from the ground up and helped 3 others with major remodels. One of the BIG inventory problems that happened EVERY YEAR during the audits was the audit company would CONSTANTLY mess up their counts and say we had a bunch of items in random areas of the store or combining SKU counts of different products. It wasn't even something like "Oh the green table covers got grouped with the blue ones". No it would be table covers, cups, napkins, and balloons all mixed under one count. Depending on the store Halloween could be anywhere between 20%-40% of a store's yearly revenue. I passed a Party City this past October the Friday before Halloween (25th), in an area that didn't have school on Fridays, and that store was DEAD. There are just less people doing stuff for Halloween ever sense COVID less people had been doing things for Halloween. The last things that comes to mind that was a problem was that Corporate would keep MULTIPLE stores that were a operating large square footage stores in areas, that were KNOWN for shoplifting, just to have a store there incase it got better and as a local storage for other stores. These stores would also have the lowest amount of staff so we couldn't keep an eyes on the product and customers to stop shoplifting. We would have the store manager working everyday, 1 four hour employee during lunches on the busier days, and another 4 hour employee for closing. Saturdays would be the busiest days so we had to use a lot of staffing hours there just to get through all the balloons.

[@kennethd4958]

When Toys R Us was closing down I worked at one of their distribution centers. We saw the writing on the wall. Some of us left and got a new job immediately even though they begged us to stay 🙄 Some went down with the ship. Neither of those groups got any severance pay or anything.

[@TheCarCrazyGuy]

The party is over.

[@FriedChiliCheeseDogs]

Last few years at Halloween, party city had way less costumes than the early 2000s. When it came to most products the prices were just way too high on simple items (candles, napkins, hats) But I love this store and loved going to it as a kid

[@NaoiGredis]

A few months ago, I got a big "40" balloon for nearly 40 dollars at Party City. A few weeks later I saw the same balloon for 20$ at Mariano's. It's not surprising that they are losing money, that made me never want to buy from there again.

[@Non_Of_U_business]

I agree with the post below. Another important major Factor was Dollar tree! You can't beat that price I was at Dollar tree during the holidays everybody was in the party section.

[@shadowpuppet8192]

We didn't have a Party City in my area. The closest was either a days drive or a days flight away. And even then I never got to go inside of one. So, Party City's decline has had no effect on me. Happy holidays!

[@HenryWJonesJr]

You mentioned Amazon and other places selling party supplies- one particular thing that I think is worth mentioning- Home Goods/TJ Maxx type stores sell really nice plastic plates and paper napkins. They’re sturdy for holding a holiday type of meal, have fancy designs, it’s like faux China dishware made of plastic. Glassware as well- you can get fake crystal looking wine glasses etc. Some amount of people are choosing that over paper plate options for parties- and are already going into Home Goods to look for decor anyway. So, surely some amount of the Party City “food serving supplies” or something is being cut into with a little bit a fancier version that’s still affordable and ultimately disposable- bc most people don’t keep real China sets anymore either.

[@SRW_]

I mean Amazon is big now but in the late 90s early 2000s it wasnt

[@peterinbrat]

It always baffled me bc they had HUGE stores and pretty much everything was under $10 except for the Halloween costumes. Who wants to buy 5 year old candy?

[@NoamTheGOAT50]

Wow! Company Man is getting closer to 2Mill subscribers! Keep up the great work you do!! You're Awesome!

[@lostlegend2197]

Big Lots! video soon I'm guessing.......😏