|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Maya Mackey
Party City and Big Lots are the latest brick and mortar chains to close down their doors. Party City, which has been in operation for 40 years, closed down on Friday, December 20th, with no warning to its current employees. A true “Ebenezer Scrooge” move. Of course, the employees were released with no severance pay and no rollover benefits, regardless of how long or hard they worked to earn money for CEOs and stakeholders.
Barry Litman, the CEO to date, thanked employees for their “valued contributions and service to the company,” reports CNN who sat in on the zoom meeting where the announcement that Party City was closing its doors took place. How valuable could one’s contributions be if they’re not even worthy of a severance package?
That’s the true sin of capitalism–the utter disregard for our fellow human beings. Financially, it’s been a long and winding road for Party City. They filed for Bankruptcy in 2023 and Litman, who was hired to resuscitate the company, pulled Party City out of bankruptcy a mere month after he’d been hired. However, even after qualifying for bankruptcy, Party City was still $800 million in debt, a feat too great to overcome inflation and a helium shortage which killed one of their main services–balloon supply for parties.
The Big Lots chain began filing for bankruptcy in September and reported their wish to sell all assets to Nexus Capital Management or another buyer. They want to save the store, but with no current hope in sight, “we’re going out of business” sales will commence immediately and they hope to get bought out by early January. Up to 555 people are expected to lose their jobs. Inflation is listed as the predominant reason for Big Lots’ closure as well. Big Lots was in business for 57 years.
