Party City Is Preparing to Declare Bankruptcy Within Weeks, New Report Says

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No matter what type of get-together you’re planning , Party City is often an essential resource for getting all the items on your to-do list. The company currently operates more than 850 stores across the U.S., supplying everything from plates and balloons to costumes and streamers. But the post-pandemic business landscape has not been kind to retailers of all sizes, as many companies struggle to stay afloat . And now, it appears that Party City is preparing to file for bankruptcy within weeks, according to a report. Read on to see what this could mean for the future of the celebration supply outlet.

READ THIS NEXT: PNC Bank Is Closing 32 More Branches in 10 States, Starting Early Next Year .

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It appears one of America’s largest party supply chains doesn’t have much reason to celebrate lately. According to sources familiar with the matter, Party City is planning to file for bankruptcy within the next few weeks, The Wall Street Journal first reported on Jan. 6.

Sources say the retailer is struggling with a shortage of cash on hand while struggling with a downturn in sales due to stubbornly high inflation. The company—valued at roughly $41 million—is reportedly in talks with bondholders to potentially convert some of its debt into equity to restabilize its finances.

Best Life has reached out to Party City for comment on the potentially forthcoming bankruptcy filing, but has yet to hear back.

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News of the potential bankruptcy filing comes just two months after the company announced on Nov. 8 that it would be trimming down its corporate workforce by 19 percent after it posted flat sales numbers over the Halloween holiday season, Retail Dive reported. At the time, Party City CEO Brad Weston said the disappointing numbers were due to the chain’s “core customer facing significant inflationary pressures.” It then reestimated its losses over the fiscal year from $36 million to an anticipated maximum net loss of $199 million.

“Looking ahead, we anticipate the current macro backdrop to persist and are taking action to best position the business in this environment and for the longer term,” Weston said.

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As the company’s stocks plummeted at the news of the impending bankruptcy filing, some experts said they hadn’t expected the party retailer to find itself in such dire straits given its relatively competition-free niche .

“I’m a little bit surprised by this and the fact that Party City is in the position that it’s in right now, because if Party City—I’m just speaking straight from a consumer perspective right now—if they were to go under and they, of course, were to file for bankruptcy, there’s not a lot of options out there for retailers that are specifically focused on parties,” Yahoo Finance anchor Seana Smith said during an on-air appearance on Jan. 6.

“Yes, you could get things here and there, say, from Target, some of the other larger retailers,” she added. “But this focus on parties, especially coming out of a pandemic, was a play that you thought would have performed much, much better.”

But her colleague pushed back on the assertion that the chain was the only major player in its field—especially when it comes to one major holiday. “I think maybe one of the final nails was Spirit Halloween,” Yahoo Finance anchor Dave Briggs said during the same broadcast. “They have 1,500 Halloween stores. That took away a key element from Party City. And they don’t have year-round real estate: They just have pop-up real estate, so their costs are just so much lower. ”

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But Party City isn’t alone in its recent struggles. The post-pandemic business landscape has been infamously difficult for retailers of all sizes, prompting waves of store closures and bankruptcy rumblings for some other well-known stores.

On Dec. 26, Sears Hometown announced that it was liquidating inventory and closing its remaining 130 stores across the U.S. The move came just weeks after the company filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 12, following a long string of closures over the previous year. A large banner on the company’s website now reads, “All Sears Hometown Stores from coast-to-coast will be shutting their doors!” and urges anyone holding gift cards to use them as soon as possible.

And in a statement released on Jan. 5, beloved home goods store Bed Bath & Beyond announced that the company was mulling over filing for bankruptcy as it struggled to stay afloat despite having downsized its number of store locations. “The company has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the company said in a statement.

The company disclosed that it saw its earnings in the last quarter ending on Nov. 26 drop from $1.8 billion to $1.3 billion, while its losses increased to $385 million from $276 million from the same time the previous year. And even though the retailer could use a bankruptcy filing to help regain its footing, one expert pointed out that it might also simply lead the chain to shutter . “What we’ve seen many times is that it ends up being a stay of execution,” Michael Baker , a retail analyst at D.A. Davidson, told The New York Times . “Sometimes that works, but oftentimes you see an announcement of scaling back and having fewer stores, and then that’s followed by a complete liquidation.”

PNC Bank Is Closing 32 More Branches in 10 States, Starting Early Next Year

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Even in the age of online banking, “run to the bank” is a pretty standard line on a to-do list. Maybe you need to deposit a larger check or pick up a new debit card—or perhaps you prefer to use your bank’s ATM and avoid those annoying transaction fees. No matter your motive, having a local bank is a convenience, and it can really throw a wrench in things when branches close. Unfortunately, PNC Bank just announced that it will be closing 32 additional branches across 10 states in the near future. Read on to find out if your local bank will be shuttered in early 2023.

READ THIS NEXT: Grocery Stores Including Stop & Shop Are Closing Locations, Starting Jan. 2 .

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In July, PNC announced plans to close approximately 135 in-store locations. According to the Pittsburgh Business Times, all of these branches were located inside grocery stores , including 127 in Giant Food and Stop & Shop supermarkets throughout Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. The remaining eight branches were all in ShopRite stores in Pennsylvania, with closures beginning in October.

As it turns out, brick-and-mortar bank closures are part of an ongoing national trend, as more customers shift to mobile and online banking. Shutting down locations inside retail establishments is a separate but related trend, the Pittsburgh Business Times explained in July, and financial institutions are closing these branches at an even faster rate.

PNC’s latest round of closures will affect even more of its customer base, including those who frequent traditional and in-store branches.

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According to the Dec. 10 weekly bulletin from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), PNC Bank has plans to close 32 locations in early 2023. By the Pittsburgh Business Times’ calculations, this brings the total number of branches to be closed to 77.

Banks are required to notify the OCC at least 90 days in advance of closures. Because the latest filings were from the time period period between Dec. 4 and Dec. 12, the earliest that these branches could close is in March.

According to the Pittsburgh Business Times, two locations in the Pittsburgh metro area have confirmed they will be closing at 3 p.m. on March 17, 2023.

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PNC is the sixth-largest bank in the U.S., according to NerdWallet. As of September, the bank had 2,600 branches in 28 states, but that number is steadily declining.

Per the OCC, Virginia and Maryland will say goodbye to the most PNC branches, as six are slated to close in each state. Alabama, Texas, and Pennsylvania are each losing four locations, while Indiana will lose three. Two PNC branches in Illinois are being axed, as are individual locations in Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina.

According to the Pittsburgh Business Times, 11 of these closures are additional locations inside of grocery stores. Street addresses and cities are listed on the OCC bulletin.

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In a statement to the Pittsburgh Business Times, a spokesperson for PNC confirmed that multiple factors were considered when deciding which locations would be shut down.

“PNC recognizes that branches continue to play an important role for many customers when it comes to conducting certain transactions and holding important in-person financial conversations with our banking experts,” the spokesperson said. “That is why we routinely evaluate our branch network, together with our other available methods of banking, to determine if we are most effectively meeting our customers’ needs.”

It’s not all bad news, either, as the banking chain also confirmed that it will be opening eight branches as well. New locations will be established in Atlanta; Houston; College Park, Maryland; Doral, Florida; and in Alexandria and Reston, Virginia, according to the Dec. 10 bulletin. In November, individual PNC branches in Springfield, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., were also approved to open .