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Party City to Shutter All US Locations, Spirit Halloween Fans Rejoice

CultureHuman Interest
By Craig Garrett
December 21, 2024 | 3:12 p.m. CST
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Photo by Donovan Bruce

Party City is saying goodbye after nearly 40 years, but Halloween enthusiasts are already haunting for the silver lining.

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The company’s CEO, Barry Litwin, informed corporate employees during a Friday meeting, as reported by CNN that the company is “winding down” operations effective immediately. He announced that the same day would mark the employees’ final day of work.

Staff were told they would not receive severance packages, and their benefits would end as the company shuts down. On Friday, some Party City employees were notified via letters that their stores would close on February 28, ending their employment.

However, many fans of Spirit Halloween are already anticipating how all of those vacant Party City locations might look come the fall of 2025…

X (formerly Twitter) was flooded with comments and memes about Spirit possessing all of those empty buildings.

The seasonal retailer operates up to 1,400 stores during the Halloween season in North America. They famously occupy vacant storefronts. They even expanded to the Christmas season this year with Spirit Christmas locations (Holiday Spirit was right there, but whatever).

It only makes sense that a lot of spooky season lovers are anticipating the more generic Party City locations going full tilt Halloween in 2025.

Retailers like Spirit Halloween and Amazon Led to Party City Closing in the United States

Indeed, Spirit Halloween is cited as one of the reasons behind Party City’s demise.

Party City stood as the largest party supply retailer in the United States. As of 2021, the company employed around 6,400 full-time staff and 10,100 part-time team members.

The company, known for selling balloons, costumes, and party supplies, has struggled against rising competition from e-commerce platforms and seasonal pop-up stores like Spirit Halloween. Big-box retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Costco have also made it harder for smaller chains to survive.

Of course, many Party City shoppers mourned the sudden loss of the costume and party supply giant.

That said, it would make a lot of economic sense for Spirit Halloween to resurrect any vacant Party City locations. Especially now that they occupy both the Halloween and Christmas seasons.