The rise and fall

Currently Playing: The rise and fall of Party City: From $2.4B to bankruptcy

In 2018, Party City controlled nearly 20% of the U.S. party supply market with 900 stores and billions in sales. But by 2024, the company had filed for bankruptcy—twice—and shut down its stores, leaving 12,000 employees without jobs. 👇 SUBSCRIBE for more business breakdowns https://www.youtube.com/@Michael-Girdley?sub_confirmation=1 Get my free guide → Why Great Businesses Fail: 10 Multi-Million Dollar Mistakes To Avoid: https://links.girdley.com/10fails-yt ------------------------------------------------------------------ ► For sponsorships or inquiries please reach out to: alexandro@girdley.com ► Get my weekly letter to business owners: essential insights to run, grow, and stay ahead in your business → https://links.girdley.com/newsletter-yt ► Free events on all things small business: https://links.girdley.com/lectures-yt ► Deep dives on businesses for sale: https://www.youtube.com/@AcquisitionsAnonymousPodcast ► Follow me on Twitter/X: https://x.com/girdley ------------------------------------------------------------------ This video breaks down the rise and fall of Party City, from its explosive growth in the 1990s to the devastating headwinds of Amazon, Walmart, and Target competition, declining U.S. birth rates, shifting consumer habits, the helium shortage, and the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll cover: - How Party City built an empire on balloons and Halloween sales - Why private equity debt turned into a ticking time bomb - The impact of e-commerce on retail stores - The lessons entrepreneurs and business owners can learn from Party City’s collapse