TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Two big brick-and-mortar stores have announced closures of all their locations. Both Party City and Big Lots announced this week they will be going out of business.
Local customers said they were disappointed.
“It’s sad,” Party City customer, Chanelle Wright said. “It’s kinda like, when you have those needs, where are you gonna go?”
Party City’s CEO announced, Friday, the company will close all locations after over 40 years of business. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2023. It gained enough stability to emerge earlier this year, but it still wasn’t enough.
Big Lots was also unable to overcome its financial struggles after filing for bankruptcy in September. Big Lots said in a news release, that it is preparing to host “going out of business” sales at all remaining stores after its anticipated sale to Nexus Capital Management fell through.
One Big Lots shopper, Randy Rowe, said he used to shop at the location in Defiance until it closed down. He began shopping at the location on Airport Hwy., now that store will close too.
“It sucks,” Rowe said.
He said he’s bought furniture, odds and ends and Christmas items from the retailer.
With closures looming, Party City laid off all corporate employees, Friday. Local jobs aren’t far behind. Other major news outlets have reported that some locations received letters from corporate saying Feb. 28 would be their last day.
13 Action News reached out to Party City to confirm what days the Toledo locations will close, but they have not yet responded.
This comes at a time when online shopping is at an all-time high.
According to Capital One, 2.71 Billion people shop online worldwide in 2024.
Some customers said that while online shopping is nice, sometimes shopping in-store is better.
“I online shop too, don’t get me wrong,” Wright said. “But, when you have the convenience of being able to just go to the store, it’s a lot better than just waiting online and hoping and praying the order is right.”
As for the Big Lots locations, the exact date of the store closures is still unknown.
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