Is Party City still open?

Not as the chain most people remember. Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2024 and closed its standalone US stores in the months that followed, with the last of them gone by around February 2025. The brand itself survived and is returning during 2026 as a shop-in-shop inside roughly 700 Staples stores — a party aisle within an office-supply store rather than a party superstore of its own. If a map still shows a standalone Party City near you, treat the listing as stale and call before driving over.

What stores are like Party City?

There is no single national replacement, which is why the answer is local. Independent party stores are the closest like-for-like — family-run shops carrying balloons, tableware, piñatas, costumes and decorations, often with a helium counter and frequently cheaper than the chain was. Beyond those, the Staples shop-in-shops carry the Party City range in a smaller footprint, dollar and discount stores cover plain tableware and favors, and craft chains cover the DIY end. Our city guides name the independents by street address.

Where can I buy party supplies near me?

Start with the independent party store nearest you rather than a chain — search your city's guide below and you will get named shops with addresses instead of a map full of grocery stores. As a rule, one specialist trip beats four scattered ones: a good independent will have the tableware, the balloons and the piñata under one roof, and someone behind the counter who can tell you what actually goes together.

Where is the cheapest place to buy party supplies?

Dollar and discount stores win outright on plain tableware, favors, gift bags and balloons you inflate yourself. Independent party stores usually beat them on anything themed, and often beat the old chain prices too, because they buy the same stock without the national overhead — piñatas in particular are typically larger and better made for less money. The expensive route is buying a themed set for every element; pick one themed item, then fill in around it in a solid color.

MBUUSA

Become an entertainer Log in

Party supplies

Party supply stores near me

For twenty years that search had one answer, and in 2025 the answer closed. Here is what actually replaced it — who still sells balloons, tableware and piñatas, how to shop each option for a kids’ party, and the named shops in your city.

Find shops in your city Book the entertainment

Illustration of a party-supply shop: shelves of plates, cups, streamers and party hats with a piñata and bunting overhead, and an adult pushing a trolley while a child points up at a bunch of balloons

The landscape in 2026

Four places party supplies actually come from now

Party City filed for Chapter 11 in December 2024 and its standalone stores were gone by early 2025. Nothing replaced it wholesale. Four things replaced it in pieces, and they are good at different jobs.

Illustration of a balloon artist twisting a balloon animal for a group of delighted children at a party

1. Independent party stores

The closest like-for-like, and in most cities the best of the four. These are family-run shops — often decades old, often the thing that was there before the chain arrived and quietly outlived it. Expect balloons and a helium counter, themed tableware, piñatas, costumes, favors and decorations, plus somebody behind the till who has assembled a hundred parties and will tell you which theme has one decent plate design and which has six.

They are also frequently cheaper than the chain was, particularly on piñatas and bulk tableware, because they buy the same stock without a national retail overhead. The catch is that they keep their own hours — some close Sundays, some keep wholesale-market times and shut mid-afternoon — so call before a special trip.

2. Party City, inside Staples

The brand survived the bankruptcy even though the stores did not, and it is returning through 2026 as a shop-in-shop inside roughly 700 Staples locations. It is a party aisle in an office-supply store rather than a party superstore: useful for balloons, standard licensed tableware and a last-minute banner, not a destination for a themed party you care about. Worth knowing it exists, and worth not confusing with the old standalone stores — if a listing still shows one of those near you, it is stale.

3. Dollar and discount stores

Unbeatable on the boring half of the list. Plain plates, cups, napkins and tablecloths in solid colors, gift bags, favors, and balloons you inflate yourself all cost a fraction of what a themed equivalent does, and nobody at a six-year-old’s party has ever noticed the difference. Buy the theme in one or two places and buy everything else here — it is the single biggest saving available on a party budget.

4. Online

Best for anything specific and anything early: a niche theme, a custom banner with a name on it, a balloon garland kit, a piñata in a shape nobody local stocks. The trade-off is timing and helium. Order at least ten days out, assume one item arrives wrong or late, and never plan on inflating foil balloons at home unless you have already sourced the helium — that is the errand that catches people out, and it is the one thing a local shop does better than any website.

The practical bit

How to shop a kids' party without four trips

Most of the pain in a supplies run comes from doing it in the wrong order. This is the order that works.

Illustration of a party-supply shop interior — shelves of plates, cups and streamers, a piñata overhead, a shopper pushing a trolley

Pick the theme, then pick one hero item
Decide the theme first and buy exactly one thing that carries it loudly — the piñata, the balloon set, or the tableware. Everything else goes in a solid color pulled from it. A party themed through one strong object and four coordinating colors looks more deliberate than one themed through nine licensed products, and costs a third as much.
Write the list before you leave the house
Tableware for two more guests than you have invited, one activity, favors, candles, and a bin bag for the end. Shopping a party from memory in a store full of good ideas is how a $60 run becomes $160.
Do the specialist shop first
Go to the independent party store while you still have decisions to make — that is where the advice is, and where the piñata and the themed items are. Anything they do not have becomes a short discount-store list rather than a second full trip.
Buy the balloons last, or have them delivered
Inflated balloons do not survive a day in a car, and a home helium tank goes a lot less far than the packaging suggests. Order them for collection on the morning, or pay the delivery fee. If you want an arch or a garland, decide that before you buy loose balloons — kits and DIY use different stock.
Decide what you are not doing yourself
The supplies are the easy half. Nobody remembers the napkins; they remember the face paint and the balloon dog. If the entertainment is still an open question at this point, settle it before you spend another hour on decorations.

Book the entertainment

The supplies are sorted — now book the entertainer

Nobody remembers the napkins. They remember the face paint and the balloon dog. Tell us the date and we'll come back with vetted local pros who are actually free.

Vetted & insured
Money held until after the party
Free to ask

Find your entertainer Browse balloon artists

Find your city

Party supply stores, city by city

Named shops with street addresses, checked against current sources — not a map full of grocery stores. Every guide leads with the independents.

Not on the list? The four routes above work anywhere — start with the independent party store nearest you, keep the discount store for the plain half of the list, and order anything custom early.

Questions

Party supplies, answered

Is Party City still open?: Not as the chain most people remember. Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2024 and closed its standalone US stores in the months that followed, with the last of them gone by around February 2025. The brand itself survived and is returning during 2026 as a shop-in-shop inside roughly 700 Staples stores — a party aisle within an office-supply store rather than a party superstore of its own. If a map still shows a standalone Party City near you, treat the listing as stale and call before driving over.
What stores are like Party City?: There is no single national replacement, which is why the answer is local. Independent party stores are the closest like-for-like — family-run shops carrying balloons, tableware, piñatas, costumes and decorations, often with a helium counter and frequently cheaper than the chain was. Beyond those, the Staples shop-in-shops carry the Party City range in a smaller footprint, dollar and discount stores cover plain tableware and favors, and craft chains cover the DIY end. Our city guides name the independents by street address.
Where can I buy party supplies near me?: Start with the independent party store nearest you rather than a chain — search your city's guide below and you will get named shops with addresses instead of a map full of grocery stores. As a rule, one specialist trip beats four scattered ones: a good independent will have the tableware, the balloons and the piñata under one roof, and someone behind the counter who can tell you what actually goes together.
Where is the cheapest place to buy party supplies?: Dollar and discount stores win outright on plain tableware, favors, gift bags and balloons you inflate yourself. Independent party stores usually beat them on anything themed, and often beat the old chain prices too, because they buy the same stock without the national overhead — piñatas in particular are typically larger and better made for less money. The expensive route is buying a themed set for every element; pick one themed item, then fill in around it in a solid color.

Once the shopping is done

The half nobody remembers you bought

Supplies set the table. What the children actually remember is the person who turned up and ran the afternoon.