Retail Landscape Shifts: JCPenney, Party City, and More Announce Store Changes Amid Broader Closures Trend

Big shifts happening in U.S. stores these days. Many national chains changing their plan. Some are closing down store places. This big picture complex is influenced by lots of stuff. People shopping habits change is one factor. Money problems like **inflation** and high borrowing costs matters too. Strategic choices retailers make is another reason. Also the long shadow of things like **Covid pandemic** stays. Some companies reducing how many stores they got. Others are changing how they do business. They are trying new markets to stay strong. They must adapt in a quickly changing **marketplace**.

1. **JCPenney’s Latest Closure Wave**: Time is getting short for shoppers at some JCPenney spots. Multiple **stores** are getting ready to close up shop soon. A company person said seven stores in seven different states close May 25. This is a specific step in the retailer making changes to its list of stores. These particular **closures** included places at The Shops at Tanforan California. Also The Shops at Northfield in Denver was on the list. Pine Ridge Mall Idaho West Ridge Mall in Kansas too. Mall at Fox Run New Hampshire and Asheville Mall North Carolina. Charleston Town Center West Virginia also closed on that date.

2. **A Reprieve for Westfield Annapolis**: In news just out one JCPenney store thought closed will stay open. The place at the Westfield Annapolis Mall in Annapolis Maryland is staying. It had been announced for earlier **closure**. A **spokesperson** confirmed the lease was extended they said. “We are excited to announce that we have agreed a lease extension to keep the store open at least through August 31 2025 and are in continuing negotiations with our landlord for a new long-term lease.” So the big store **liquidation** selling event stopped that been happening.

“JCPenney Black Friday” by holidaygiftnation1 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

3. **JCPenney’s Broader 2025 Strategy**: While some places closing JCPenney calls this separate things. They do not see it as a big reduction happening overall. The seven May 25 **closures** called “isolated” events. They stated no plans to cut store count much they said. Back in February the company announced total eight store **closures** planned. This was for the time until mid-2025 came along. That list had the seven closing May 25 plus the one in Annapolis at first. That was before its lease got extended it was revealed.

Big Lots store closures — File:Big Lots Store Closing 7.jpg – Wikimedia Commons, Photo by wikimedia.org, is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

4. **Big Lots Adjusts Footprint**: Discount store Big Lots said they will close many locations too. The company shared plans to close over 300 stores across the country. This news came after sales dropped ten percent reported. That equaled about $205 million less money coming in. A later filing from the company showed even more **closures** planned. It raised the total number to 315 stores. These closing are part of getting a loan for the company.

5. **Party City’s Initial Full Closure**: Something big happened for party supply shops in December. Party City shared they were closing every store in the U.S. This came after almost 40 years being in **business**. It affected around 700 stores across the nation. The main person Barry Litwin had a meeting December 11 said news. He told them that it would be their last day working there. The company had many employees roughly 6,400 full-time ones. And 10,100 people part-time around the nation. They wouldn’t get severance pay company closed. Benefits were planned to stop as the company ended operations. Rising costs and people changing how spending money given as reasons why company failed.

“Party City (Enfield Square)” by jjbers is licensed under CC BY 2.0

6. **Party City Reimagined Under New Ownership**: Party City got bought after it announced closing and filed bankruptcy. Months later the brand’s new owner saying the company will be “reimagined.” It will be a “whole new Party City” they stated. This means plans for both stores you can visit and a website coming back. New Amscan bought the brand early this year for $20 million in a **bankruptcy** auction. New Amscan is related to Ad Populum group. New Amscan called the first or stalking horse bidder in February. Buying it wants to keep the brand name’s history alive. This is important in the “multibillion dollar” party supply field. An email sent to people who were customers said the change. New Amscan PC LLC will bring back services. This includes physical stores and shopping on the computer. The message made clear the new Party City wants make celebrations easier. Faster and more fun than ever they said for customers.

7. **Coresight Research Forecasts 2025 Closures**: People who study the industry think stores closing will keep happening. It might even speed up in fact. A report from Coresight Research in January suggests this. Store **closures** will go up a lot in 2025. This group studies retail and **technology** businesses. They guess about 15,000 stores will close this year across the U.S. This number is much higher than in past years. It shows that stores getting smaller isn’t slowing down yet. The shrinking trend affects many kinds of stores.

Covid pandemic retail impact — 2020 State of Business Report: Pivoting from Pandemic to Recovery – D.C. Policy Center, Photo by dcpolicycenter.org, is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

8. **Recent Coresight Research Data**: The guess for 2025 comes after a year that saw many places close already. In 2024 stores closed U.S. totaled 7,325 numbers say. This is according to Coresight Research data gathered. This number is the biggest seen since the year 2020 passed. That year 2020 saw almost 10,000 store **closures**. This likely because how **Covid pandemic** first affected retail stores. The higher number in 2024 and what is expected next year shows the hard times continue. It’s a challenge for stores beyond the **pandemic** time right now.