The party is over for Party City as the retail giant announced Friday it was going out of business and closing all its stores after nearly 40 years. Employees of the New Jersey-based party chain were informed in a Friday meeting they were losing their jobs five days before Christmas and would be let go sans severance pay or extension of benefits, effective immediately. “That is without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver,” CEO Barry Litwin said in a video conference call, according to CNN. Litwin announced in August he was taking over leadership of the struggling company and its more than 700 stores during a “pivotal” period of repositioning for the business. The country’s largest party supply chain declared bankruptcy at the start of 2023, which allowed the company to cancel nearly $1 billion in debt. Still its problems continued. More than 80 stores were closed between 2022 and 2024. Party City’s struggles were blamed on a myriad of factors including competition from massive retailers like Amazon and Walmart. The company was also hurt by the pandemic when a helium shortage reportedly crippled its lucrative balloon business during a time that was already challenging for retail and party industries. Corporate staffers had an inkling the party was ending in recent weeks, according to CNN. The product development team was recently told not to attend an annual meeting with vendors because Party City was no longer paying those suppliers. But still, employees were said to have been caught off-guard by Friday’s sudden announcement. Party City has not responded to a Daily News request for comment. According to the company’s website, it’s 35 New York City area stores planned to stay open until 9 p.m. Friday before locking the doors for the last time. Other businesses struggling to stay afloat in 2024 include the Red Lobster seafood chain and Big Lots home stores, the latter of which said Thursday it would launch going-out-of-business sales at all of its locations after a deal to save the company from bankruptcy collapsed. Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. Red Lobster did the same in May, then announced in September it had found a white knight to keep the eatery cooking.