R&B and hip hop sensation SZA said it best in her song, “Drew Barrymore” — “Why is it so hard to accept the party is over?”
As reported by CNN on Friday, Dec. 20th, CEO Barry Litwin told his corporate employees that same day that the company is “winding down” operations at once.
No warning. No two-week notice. And no severance pay for their staff. Everyone is jobless—effective immediately—just in time for the main event(s) of the holiday season.
“That is without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver,” Litwin said over the video conference call. Nearly forty years of goodwill accrued could not prevent such a great misfortune. It is not completely foreign territory for companies to dish out late December pink slips. But companywide layoffs -- and the dissolution of a company itself -- has little to no rivals in the crap-dealt hand department.
Founded in 1986 with its headquarters based in New Jersey, the company was facing up to $1 billion in debt, per reports. The largest party supply retailer in the U.S. (and Canada and Mexico) soon-to-be-no-more closed 80 stores between 2022 and 2024.
Across Long Island exists over 10 Party City locations, including stores in: Patchogue, Centereach, Islip, Commack, North Babylon, Massapequa, Levittown, Woodbury, Carle Place, and Oceanside. One used to exist behind Wendy’s of Rt. 111 in Hauppauge, but has since been taken over by a Party Glitters.
Storewide discounts are redeemable at the Centereach location, which will remain open for the next few months.
In memorializing Party City with “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” fervor, I can’t help but also think of yet another song, “Wrapped in My Memory” by Shawn Smith, most memorably used to conclude a devastating season finale of “The Sopranos” that did not cut to black, but intentionally cut away to spare us seeing a fan favorite character getting whacked.
It is not hyperbolic to say this mirrors the feeling of Party Citygoers with little window, if at all, to say goodbye. They did not know what they had until it was rendered gone beyond the point of return.
When you’re a kid, one takes for granted the hallmarks of festivity required to dress a certifiable celebration for the ages.
As this is done for your benefit, the adults, all the while just may be more concerned with who is hosting the Super Bowl or Sunday Night Prestige HBO Series viewing party, who is bringing the onion dip, who is bringing the buffalo chicken dip, must we bring wine, or can we make like George Costanza and bring a 2-liter of Pepsi instead, eh, maybe let’s not and say we did… and so forth.
Kids with a penchant for challenging may even call into question whether or not a gathering can be categorized as a party if there are no balloons abound. For years, these were supplied by way of a place called Party City. Months from now? The balloons will have flown away.
In all likelihood, they will come back again some other day by way of another source, of course. However, this will surely not be the work of an iconic brand that held a monopolous hold over an ultra-specific, yet far-from niche industry.