‘Everything is on sale’: Wichita stores to close as national chain calls it quits

Party City locations around the country will be closing in the coming months. That includes the two locations in Wichita.

CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees on Friday that the party supplies chain is officially going out of business and would be “winding down” operations immediately, CNN reported.

The locations in Wichita — at 6866 West Kellogg and 3411 N Rock Rd #100 — will close Feb. 28. Each store has around 10 to 15 employees who make up a mix of full- and part-time workers, according to an employee at each of the stores.

“Everything is on sale,” one employee said.

All items in the store went on sale Friday and will remain on sale until the stores close.

Party City sells balloons, costumes and other decorations. Facing increased competition from online retailers like Amazon, larger brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart, and seasonal pop-up stores like Spirit Halloween, Party City declared bankruptcy in January 2023, exiting bankruptcy that September. It owned roughly 800 U.S. stores at that time but carried a large debt load of around $800 million.

Contributing: David Hudnall with The Kansas City Star.

This story was originally published December 20, 2024 at 9:07 PM.