The party is over at Party City, once the largest supplier of balloons and other fun-time supplies in the US, as the company announced Friday it was closing down all of its stores, ending nearly 40 years in business.

Barry Litwin, the Party City CEO, told employees that the chain was “winding down” operations immediately and that today would be their last day of employment.

Staff were told they would not receive severance pay, and they were told their benefits would end as the company goes out of business, CNN reported.

Litwin said the company’s “very best efforts have not been enough to overcome” its financial challenges that had included inflation that had contributed to higher costs and dragged on consumer spending.

The abrupt end comes just four months after Litwin was appointed CEO of the New Jersey-based company. Party City went into bankruptcy in January 2023 under $1.7bn in debt.

The bankruptcy cleared nearly $1bn in debt and managed to keep most of around 800 stores open. But the remaining $800m in debt proved too much to overcome. All corporate employees were sent home earlier this month. Staff were reportedly caught off-guard by the move.

On the call with staff Friday, Litwin reportedly apologized for the lack of communication, saying: “We recognize the flow of communication has not been how we typically handle sensitive matters like this.”

Like many brick-and-mortar chains, Party City was unable to adapt to the rise of e-commerce sites and pop-up concepts such as Spirit Halloween, CNN said. It also had to deal with a helium shortage, a critical component of the party balloon business.