2 national retailers closing all stores, having going-out-of-business sales

Two national retailers are having “going out of business” sales after announcing all their stores will close soon.

Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Saturday, according to USA Today. The company, known for selling party supplies and costumes, said all corporately-owned Party City locations will close; sales of up to 50% off are already underway at hundreds of stores.

A day earlier, Big Lots announced it would also close all of its stores. CBS reports the discount retailer revealed Thursday that plans to sell its remaining assets to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management fell through after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.

Big Lots’ website now says all its stores are closing with going out of business sales of up to 25%. The company had 1,400 stores at the beginning of 2023, but already closed hundreds of locations this year, including CNY-area stores in Ithaca and New Hartford.

Party City will close all 43 shops in New York state, according to USA Today, including two in the Syracuse area. The store at Northern Lights Plaza in Salina first announced its closing in September, and now the Marshall’s Plaza location on Erie Boulevard East in DeWitt will also get the ax.

The chain’s corporate parent, Party City Holdco Inc., previously filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in 2023 and emerged from bankruptcy nine months later with $1 billion less in debt. Party City CEO Barry Litwin reportedly fired corporate employees immediately on Friday, with the rest of the business’ operations “winding down” in the coming weeks.

Approximately 700 Party City stores will close, according to Fox 7 in Austin, Texas, but a small number of franchise locations may stay open. None of them are located in New York state.

Big Lots said it would continue to negotiate with Nexus and explore other avenues to stay in business, but still plans to shutter all of its 908 remaining brick-and-mortar locations. Big Lots’ website currently lists 49 stores in the Empire State, including Upstate New York locations in Auburn, Buffalo, Cortland, Elmira, Liverpool, Niagara Falls, Oneida, Oswego, Pulaski, Rochester, Rome, Utica, Vestal and Watertown.

“We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale,” Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn said in a statement. “While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going-concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the [going out of business] process.”