Party City is closing all of its stores in the US, but the emptied-out buildings they leave behind won't be shuttered for long.
In December, the company announced that it was going out of business "immediately" and closed all of its locations. The company had filed for bankruptcy earlier in the month but could not recover even after its filing.
A recent court filing in Texas may provide a glimpse into which retailers are looking to fill up all the empty storefronts left behind after Party City shut its doors, according to PIX11.
The most common bidder to show up in the filing is Dollar Tree, which won a bid to take over 150 former Party City locations.
Dollar Tree and its discount chain Family Dollar have been expanding and will continue to do so, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company purchased 170 leases from the 99 Cents Only store — which itself went bankrupt — last year.
Another discount retailer, Five Below, also entered a winning bid. It plans to take over 40 leases from the former Party City, according to the legal filing.
Discount stores aren't the only retailers looking to move into Party City's old spots. Barns & Noble and Books-a-Million are looking to take over some locations, while Burlington Coat Factory and Rack Room Shoes are planning to move into others.
Cavender's, a western wear company, will also move into some of the empty spots, as will La-Z-Boy furniture.
The lease transfers will be approved or denied during a hearing in Houston at the end of the month.
For those who enjoyed shopping at Party City, not all is lost; nine franchises that collectively own 29 locations are planning to remain open even after the bankruptcy and closure announcement.
With the central Party City company no longer operating, the owners of the individual stores will have to band together to keep the remaining locations afloat.
"We're all in this together, were in contact with them," Anisa Patel, who co-owns two Party City locations near Austin, told USA Today. "We've all kind of been thrown in this together, we're having to rebuild on our own so we're banding together."
Another owner in Virginia, Steve Fram, told the Richmond BizSense that the remaining owners were sharing resources and planned to keep the name "Party City" for their stores.
“The nine franchisees are sticking together and talking to each other each day and sharing resources,” he said.
