Has the last balloon popped for Party City (PRTY)?
The Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based discount party outlet is closing nine more U.S. stores and is hoping to emerge from its January, 2023 bankruptcy without a hangover – but it won’t be a pain-free experience.
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A&G Real Estate Partners, the real estate advisor to Party City Holdco Inc., is set to offer nine additional Party City leases in a Friday, April 28 auction, after getting a green light from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
According to a company statement, the closed Party City stores include:
- California (Marina, Palmdale, Lodi)
- Indiana (Noblesville)
- New York (Bronx, Staten Island)
- Ohio (Lancaster)
- Oklahoma (Midwest City)
- Michigan (Walker)
Party City has already parted ways with five U.S. locations, selling the store properties in an April 14 auction to chain retailers Michaels (four stores) and Five Below (one store).
The newly available locations range in size from 10,000 to 21,000 square feet. “Some are freestanding, while others are in power centers, strips, or city street locations,” Party City stated. “Potential users include gyms, dollar stores, local retail operators, furniture users, local specialty retailers, and non-retail users such as medical office clinics.”
To date, Party City closed 22 retail stores in February and plans on shutting down 28 other locations as soon as possible, depending on bankruptcy court approval. Over 33 store locations have already been put up for auction.
A&G executives say they’re focused on turning Party City around, with Andy Graiser, A&G’s co-president, noting in a recent statement that Party City “is working closely with us to maximize the performance of every location in its store portfolio, with a view toward achieving financial metrics that will best support the go-forward fleet.”
Like many large retailers highly dependent on physical store foot traffic, Party City has never fully recovered from government pandemic lockdowns, winding up with over $1.4 billion in debt at the end of 2021. In 2019, however, the retailer recorded $2.35 billion in revenues.
According to Retail Dive, Party City still has 770 company-owned locations and 53 franchised locations, as of April, 2023.
