Numerous Party City Stores Closing Amid Helium Shortage
Published May 11, 2019 at 3:21 pm
Party City, the North American party retailer that operates quite a few locations in Ontario, is planning to shut down approximately 45 of its stores this year.
The news came in a statement on Thursday, May 9, in which Party City Holdco Inc. announced its financial results for the first quarter.
“Overall, our first quarter results were largely in line with our expectations on the top and bottom lines, inclusive of the helium shortage, which negatively impacted our latex and metallic balloon categories,” said CEO James M. Harrison.
Helium, which is often used to blow up balloons, is a non-renewable source and is thus subject to shortages.
The company announced that, throughout 2019, it will be closing 45 of its approximately 870 Party City locations.
According to Harrison, the company typically closed 10-15 stores a year as part of its “prudent network optimization process” and in response to ongoing consumer, market and economic changes.
Videos
“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,” Harrison said.
At this time, the company has not reported which stores will be closing.
There are currently two Party City locations in Mississauga — we’ll see this year if either of them end up closing their doors permanently.
insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising