CNBC Television
@CNBCtelevision·3.4M subscribers·157.5K videos
Can Party City Survive Amazon?
Posted
December 30, 2019
Views
174,252
Likes
1,996
Comments
322
Engagement
1.33%
December 30, 2019
174,252
1,996
322
1.33%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
13:46Now PlayingHalloween is Party City's most important season. In 2019, the company said October sales were "disappointing." Party City says it can improve Halloween in 2020. But there are more challenges facing the company, including a global helium shortage and changing consumer preferences.
Most people think Christmas is the only time of year that matters for retailers, but it depends on what you're selling. For many retailers, holiday-packed November and December is make or break.
At Party City, Halloween is the holiday that fills its coffers.
And in 2019, the party supply retailer said its fiscal October results were "disappointing." Revenue for the month was $432.6 million — 7% less than in 2018. The stock crashed 67% in one day.
"They were down so much, it was shocking," said Jan Kniffen, CEO of J. Rogers Kniffen WWE. "And I think that partly was a reflection of them telling the world how bad Halloween had been and everybody knowing that if you can't win in a party business on Halloween, it's hard to win."
Party City declined to comment on questions about its performance, but it did address concerns about a worldwide shortage of helium. Analysts estimate that the shortage led to a 2% sales hit in each of the first three quarters of 2019.
"We are fully in-stock in helium in our retail stores for the big New Year's Eve celebrations and this year all our stores are taking balloon pre-orders," CEO James Harrison told CNBC via email. "Each year we focus on maximizing store performance on a market basis, which is a part of our store optimization strategy and has resulted in some store closures, however, these are unrelated to the global helium shortage."
Party City says it expects Halloween 2020 to be better. But there are a variety of problems facing the business, including the aftershocks of the helium shortage and changing consumer preferences.
» Subscribe to CNBC
» Subscribe to CNBC TV
» Subscribe to CNBC Classic
About CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn
Follow CNBC News on Facebook
Follow CNBC News on Twitter
Follow CNBC News on Instagram
#CNBC
Can Party City Survive Amazon
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
