Major national retailer with 850 stores across nation mulls bankruptcy

A major party and craft retailer with 850 stores across the nation is considering filing for bankruptcy. Party City - based in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey - underwent a restructuring as lenders, including Monarch Alternative Capital and Silver Point Capital took over and managed to clear around $1 billion of its debts, allowing about 850 shops to remain open. The Topeka Party City store will close on January 18, 2025, and the Staten Island location in Forest Avenue Shoppers Town is set to close in mid-January, according to silive.com. In addition to being set back since the pandemic, Party City has had to compete with other well-known retailers like Walmart and Target, and the occasion-based pop-up store, Spirit Halloween. 'Party City used to be one of the best games in town, but it is now something of an also-ran operation,' Neil Saunder, managing director of Global Data Retail said last year.