Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com

The Party City store in the Brighton Towne Square development at Challis and Grand River is still open - and will be for the next couple of months - despite the decision to close all stores in the 748-store chain nationwide.

CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees Friday that Party City was "winding down its operations." The last day for employees at corporate headquarters in Woodcliffe Lake, New Jersey, was Friday, Dec. 20th.

However, Brighton store Assistant Manager Kayla Fenn tells WHMI that the Brighton outlet will remain open for business “at least until the end of February.” The Brighton store was observed doing a hefty business Saturday with a store-wide sale and up to 50% off on some items.

Competition by online giants like Amazon, as well as mega retail chains such as Walmart and Costco, have been the Achilles heel for smaller national chains like Party City and Big Lots.

Party City filed for bankruptcy protection in January of last year, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a helium shortage which adversely affected its party balloon business. The company was able to cancel $1 billion of its $1.7 billion debt after restructuring and closing 80 outlets, with the bulk of them remaining open.

Party City has 21 stores in Michigan, with the Brighton outlet its only store in Livingston County and the immediate surrounding area. The closest stores outside Livingston County are the Ann Arbor outlet at 2677 Oak Valley Drive and the Novi store at 43741 West Oaks Drive.

Regarding the decision to close, Party City CEO Barry Litwin told employees, “That is without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver. “ He added that the company’s “very best efforts have not been enough to overcome” the financial challenges. "It’s really important for you to know that we’ve done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome.”