Major retailer with hundreds of locations is closing 22 stores this month following bankruptcy – see the full list

PARTY City will close over 20 stores before the end of the month after filing for bankruptcy.

As a next step, the popular party provider is closing the doors of several locations after disproportionately low sales.

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Festive retail giant Party City has put 12 stores up for auction in seven different states.

Another ten stores are expected to close by the end of the month – with the possibility of more closings in the future.

It all comes after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January, MSN reports.

The retailer is now asking to exit leases on 28 vacant stores in 13 states that closed before it filed for bankruptcy, via Retail Dive.

The company operated 823 stores and owned 770 as of January, court documents showed.

Supply chain problems caused trade problems and helium was in short supply, all factors contributing to the closures, according to Reuters.

PARTY IS OUT

The first Party City store opened in New Jersey in 1986.

Party City experienced a slow decline over Covid-19 when the market for gatherings was tight.

Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection allows a company to continue trading while it restructures its debt.

Franchise stores, non-US subsidiaries and Party City’s foil balloon business are not part of the restructuring.

The company employed more than 16,000 full and part-time employees in 2021.

High product and labor costs coupled with lower sales have put the retailer in a difficult position.

It also faces competition from Walmart and Target, as well as occasional pop-up stores like Spirt Halloween.

Party City executives also revealed that Halloween sales weren’t as big as they expected.

The full list of store closures to date includes:

• Georgia: Rome: 2702 Martha Berry Rd, Cartersville: Cartersville Crossing, 451 E Main St.
• Iowa: Waterloo: Crossroads Commons Mall, 1415 Flammang Dr.
• Illinois: Bradley: Bradley Commons, 2060 N State Rte. 50
• Louisiana: Slidell: Stirling Slidell Mall, 61119 Airport Rd.
• Michigan: Holland: Felch Street Mall, 3050 Beeline Rd., Ste. 20, Fort Gratiot: 4047 24th Ave., Benton Harbor: Fairplain Plaza, 1040 Fairplain Dr.
• Mississippi: Jackson: Jackson Crossing, 1510 N West Ave.
• Missouri: St. Joseph: East Hills Shopping Center, 3702 Frederick Ave., Ste. L12, Belton: Belton Gateway, 541 East Markey Pkwy.
• New Jersey: West Paterson: Mcbride Lenox Plaza Mall, 1756 Route 46
• New York: New York: 223 W 34th St., New York: 301 W 125th St., Bronx: Broadway Plaza, 171 W 230th St., Buffalo: Boulevard Consumer Square, 4090 Maple Rd., Irondequoit: Culver Ridge Plaza, 2255 E Ridge Rd.
• Oklahoma: Lawton: Cache Road Square, 3801 NW Cache Rd., 19B
• Oregon: Corvallis: 9 Circle Mall, 944 NW Circle Blvd.
• Texas: Corpus Christi: Five Points Mall, 4101 Hwy. 77, Ste. K2
• West Virginia: Beckley: Raleigh Mall, 4283 Robert C. Byrd Dr., Martinsburg: Martinsburg Mall, 800 Foxcroft Ave.

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