Party City Focuses on in-Store Experience, Customer Engagement

Party goods company Party City said its commitment to enhancing its in-store experience for customers helped it meet fourth-quarter expectations, and it plans to ramp up customer engagement as party planners shop for goods this year, according to a Monday (Feb. 28) press release.

Most states have dropped or lowered mandates related to large gatherings, meaning big parties are coming back this spring after being largely shelved since the pandemic swept around the globe starting two years ago.

“We are pleased with our fourth quarter and full year results that were in-line with our expectations as we closed out another successful year,” said Party City CEO Brad Weston in the release. “To that end, 2021 was an important year of transformation for the company as we advanced the fundamental building blocks of our strategy across product innovation, in-store experience, being celebration occasion obsessed and focusing on our North American vertical model, which have yielded important benefits.”

Weston called the recent stretch “a truly uncertain and dynamic environment” for Party City — and for everyone. He said in the release he expects a return to pre-pandemic foot traffic and party planning this year.

“In 2022, we will build on our progress with a focus on customer engagement enhancements, and investments in IT, supply chain and infrastructure,” he said in the release. “While we expect inflation and supply chain headwinds to persist in 2022, we remain committed to delivering an improved customer experience as well as appropriately exercising our pricing power.”

For Q4, Party City reported total net sales of $698.3 million, a jump of 7.7% compared to the fourth quarter 2020. Total retail sales for the quarter increased 12.6% over the fourth quarter of 2020. The number of Party City stores grew from 746 at the end of 2020 to 759 at the end of 2021.

For the year, total net sales jumped 17.3% to almost $2.2 billion in 2021, with total retail sales up 28% to $1.77 billion.

Party City started to see some traction last spring as cities began states removing mask mandates and eliminating the cap on party sizes, both in private homes and in public places.

Read more: Party City Says Special Occasions and Events Are Up