NY-Based Party City Announces 45 Store Closures For 2019

Hudson Valley-based Party City will close 45 stores in 2019, the company said Thursday when announcing its financial results for the first quarter of 2019.

Despite a helium shortage, which the company said negatively impacted the latex and metallic balloon sales, Party City, which is headquartered in Elmsford, Westchester County, said its first quarter results were largely in line with expectations. The company also said it has signed a letter of agreement for a new helium source and if all goes well, it will eliminate the shortfall Party City is experiencing.

The 45 store closings announced for 2019 will take place throughout the year. Party City has approximately 870 locations in the United States, including more than 60 in New York.

Store locations in New York include 10 in the Hudson Valley and 12 on Long Island, as well as Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester.

"Each year, Party City typically closes 10-15 stores as a part of our prudent network optimization process and in response to ongoing consumer, market and economic changes that naturally arise in the business," James Harrison, CEO of Party City, said in a press release. "This year, after careful consideration and evaluation of our store fleet, we’ve made the decision to close more stores than usual in order to help optimize our market level performance, focus on the most profitable locations and improve the overall health of our store portfolio."

A Party City spokeswoman said the company has not disclosed a list of store locations but said they will be in various locations across the country.

According to a report in Business Insider, Party City has previously confirmed to local media outlets at least six store closings in 2019, including locations in California, Connecticut, Illinois and Washington.

Written by Feroze Dhanoa, Patch National Staff, with additional reporting by Michael Woyton.