Party City, which has one store in Alaska, is closing its doors due to financial pressures, in large part because of inflation, according to CNN, which was reporting on an internal memo received by company executives Friday.
The chain of 850 stores has a location in the Mountain View neighborhood in Anchorage, where it sells birthday party supplies, baby shower favors, Halloween costumes, and seasonal decorations.
Some corporate employees were told that Friday is their last day, and there would be no severance pay for them. It’s unclear when each store will close but the memo from CEO Barry Litwin said, “Unfortunately, it’s necessary to commence a winddown process immediately.”
The chain, which is the largest of its type in America, filed for bankruptcy protection in January of 2023, and came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September of 2023, having had over $1 billion in debt cancelled in the bankruptcy proceedings. It had closed 80 stores over the course of two years, between 2022 and 2024.
The news comes one day after it was announced that Big Lots, a discount retailer, is closing all of its locations. It has no stores in Alaska.