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Tag: Party City

  • Why These Small Businesses Are Moving Into Malls

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    For decades, small company owners hoping to move their business or expand it to a mall were confounded by a lack of available space, or prohibitively high rents for empty storefronts. Now, as the number of big box and restaurant chains pulling out of those locations increases, the entrepreneurs that want to set up shop in shopping centers once reserved for giants like JCPenny, Macy’s, and Starbucks are finding mall vacancies in many parts of the U.S. — and at times paying lower per-foot rents than those corporate giants.

    The list of large companies that have gone bankrupt or closed numerous stores in 2025 has been long, and includes craft chain Joann, Party City, Kohl’s, Big Lots, Claire’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and many more. While not all the big retailers and food businesses shuttering outlets have been based exclusively in malls, many maintain sizable footprints in U.S. shopping centers — including Starbucks, which last week announced hundreds of location closures. The subsequent slump in occupancy rates at many malls is now allows many smaller businesses to set up shop in them for the first time.

    A recent study by commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield estimated the national vacancy rate in malls at 5.8 percent in the second quarter of 2025. While that may not sound high, it represented a 20 basis point increase over Q1, and a 50 point hike since the same period in 2024. That evolution is now leading many owners or managers of underoccupied shopping centers to rethink their earlier aversion to renting to smaller businesses, whose lower cash reserves often prevent them from taking on assured, long-term leases.

    Instead, according to a recent report by CNBC, entrepreneurs are not only finding vacant space in malls available to rent. But they’re often also negotiating considerable deals on rent rates, business set up assistance, continual occupancy services, and shorter lease durations from owners. Some shopping centers set aside space for smaller businesses on more flexible terms, in hopes of converting them to longer-term leases, according to ICSC, a trade association of shopping center owners. Not surprisingly, more entrepreneurs want o seize those opportunities to move into shopping centers.

    “That kind of access wasn’t on the table for startups and small businesses three years ago in most metro areas,” Teresha Aird, co-founder and chief marketing officer of the Offices.net real estate brokerage, told the business news channel. “Now it is, and they’re making the most of it to test physical presence without overextending capital… The result is a more flexible, opportunity-rich environment that can be a lifeline for entrepreneurs navigating tight margins and competitive markets.” 

    The new opportunities for smaller businesses to rent mall space aren’t evenly spread across the country. For example, experts note that availability of nearly any commercial space in the New York City area is so tight that even converted warehouses are tough to lease. But many major U.S. urban centers — especially in medium-sized city centers and inner-ring suburbs of larger cities where big retailers have shut stores — the chances for entrepreneurs to move in on malls are multiplying.

    To be sure, some shopping center owners continue betting they have more to gain by waiting for big box, anchor tenant occupants. Rather than renting to entrepreneurs with smaller budget looking for shorter leases at lower costs, many mall managers hold out for so-called “credit tenants” with large enough reserves to sign 5- to 7-year contracts at full market rates.

    But an increasing number of mall landlords are feeling enough pressure on their vacancy rates and revenue that they’re now looking to rent to small businesses — even some pop-up stores. Many are even adding sweeteners to bring entrepreneurs aboard.

    “In West Des Moines, a family-owned restaurant recently assumed an old chain pizzeria location at a rent of almost 30 percent below the original asking rent,” local real estate broker Jacob Naig told CNBC — adding the owner helped finance the kitchen redesign. “Such a deal wouldn’t have been possible just five years ago.”

    There also may be another factor at work in the small business migration to malls. According to a recent study by location intelligence and foot traffic data company Placer.ai, small and niche retail and food companies are helping transform the entire shopping mall experience.

    That involves giving consumers used to swooping in for fast, targeted buying blasts reasons to stay longer. Former single-store visitors to malls may now also get medical or wellness treatment, go to the gym, see local service providers, take in a spa, and enjoy a fancier meal than typical food court businesses usually offer.

    As part of that, entrepreneurs can take over prime locations that national chains gave up, and add local, quality goods, meals, and services that effectively rebrand some malls. At the same time, they benefit from the work of former corporate occupants, who previously researched and identified those spaces as good for business.

    “These spaces already had a site selection review, foot traffic, and locals are used to seeing activity in the space,” said entrepreneur Andy LaPointe, the owner of Michigan gourmet food company Traverse Bay Farms, who told CNBC he now operates locations in two strip malls. “But the magic happens when a small business brings, not a cookie-cutter replacement, but something unique, a place to linger and a sense of belonging… So when a national chain leaves a space, it isn’t just a gap, it’s a canvas for a small, local business to create something lasting.”

    And that, after all, is what small businesses do best.

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    Bruce Crumley

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  • What If Max Payne, But Shooting Vampires In Slo-Mo Instead?

    What If Max Payne, But Shooting Vampires In Slo-Mo Instead?

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    When the original Max Payne was ported to consoles in late 2001, I couldn’t get a copy fast enough. I wasn’t a PC gamer at the time, and so for a while I could only enjoy Max Payne through the internet and TechTV at the time. I was transfixed by the graphics and luscious time-slowing bullet time gameplay on display. And when I finally played it on my original Xbox, it did not disappoint. Now, having played a select portion of El Paso, Elsewhere, a modern spin on this classic, third-person shooter, I am delighted to have experienced the classic vibes of the original Max Payne once more.

    Grand Theft Auto 6 Comments: A Dramatic Reading

    And, honestly, El Paso, Elsewhere is close to making them better than the original.

    Expected to release in late 2023, El Paso, Elsewhere comes courtesy of Strange Scaffold, whose previous games have included Hypnospace Outlaw, a Strand-like (?), An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs (that’s the title, also an apt description), and most recently, Sunshine Shuffle, which got the dev in a little bit of trouble with Nintendo over jokes about child gambling (as one does). El Paso, Elsewhere also follows El Paso, Nightmare, a first-person shooter with similar retro vibes. But instead of aiming for head-mounted perspectives and center-positioned guns of yesteryear, El Paso, Elsewhere is a gritty shooter with the narrative and gameplay vibes of the first Max Payne, meaning you can slow down time to a crawl, upping your reaction time to increase your aim and take out multiple enemies at once But this time you’re going after friggin’ vampires instead of the mob. Though, six in one, really.

    My preview of El Paso, Elsewhere went through the game’s first four chapters and, god damn it, I was sad when it stopped. Not only did it spark my nostalgic love of the first Max Payne, it did so with some genuinely great additions to this formula and a killer hip hop soundtrack that had me vibing the whole ride through.

    In El Paso, Elsewhere, you’re taking on vampires and other hellish manifestations in a trippy, otherworldly motel. And in doing so, El Paso, Elsewhere, thus far, improves on one of the shortcomings of Max Payne and many other shooters that demand high bullet output but take place in otherwise realistic settings.

    Game Design In Bullet Time

    As fun as Max Payne is, one of the problems I always had was that, since your enemies are just mobsters and well-armed human beings, each gun battle is more or less the same—fun as though the loop is, there’s a lack of variety in terms of enemies. And on top of that, the amount of bullets you spit out tends to dilute the realistic premise to a certain degree.

    Gif: Strange Scaffold / Kotaku

    That’s not a problem for El Paso, Elsewhere. Since the bad guys are evil things that go bump in the night, I’m more than happy to suspend my disbelief as to how many bullets are required to take these things down. That does come at the cost of Max Payne’s fantasy of two-way bullet exchanges rippling through the slowmosphere, but the trade off is that it makes the gun battles far more interesting as enemy types are more varied thus far.

    The aesthetic shift of paranormal hostiles immediately makes a difference. Simply having more interesting-looking enemies coming at you instead of Max Payne’s endless hordes of dudes-with-guns™ breaks up the monotony. But it’s not just Max Payne set in Party City during Halloween season here.

    Gif: Strange Scaffold / Kotaku

    By having foes with different kinds of attacks, you have to react differently, and thus make use of bullet time in more varied ways, be that dodging werewolves that leap at you, vampiric ghouls that burst out from behind crates, or from other unworldly begins that fire down large purple orbs at you, injecting a sense of verticality to the gameplay that isn’t always present in Max Payne. The pace of gameplay becomes more varied; I’m not just running from room to room trading fire with yet another nameless dude firing a gun at me.

    Gif: Strange Scaffold / Kotaku

    Sure, Max Payne’s task of taking down the mob by the dozens, and dozens, and dozens, (or in the case of Max Payne 3, dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens….) is fun, but it’s a breath of fresh air to have something new to engage with.

    Also, I never felt too overpowered. In this preview, El Paso, Elsewhere managed to strike a nice balance between giving me the player the power to slow down time and unload tons of bullets while also holding me to account for what I’d over indulge in, be that bullets, time stopping power, or, yes, painkillers.

    Gif: Strange Scaffold / Kotaku

    I did find that I would run out of ammo and my bullet time meter if I wasn’t careful, meaning that while I had an edge over the hordes of evil creatures coming my way, I had to be strategic in how I used it. Do I use bullet time to be more accurate? Or do I use it to get a sense of my surroundings and determine just how bad the threat I’m facing is? I liked that delicate balance and it made the game feel alive beyond just the initial “oh, nostalgia! Let’s slow down time” feeling that I instantly felt. Managing my powers against ongoing threats was a rush I was eager to continue when the preview came to an end.

    El Paso, Elsewhere is also very faithful to the narrative tone of Max Payne. As you use painkillers to heal yourself, the protagonist reflects on his diminishing sense of sanity as he continues to take drug after drug to keep pushing through. There is an ongoing narration from the protagonist that mirrors that of Max Payne’s own style of speaking and storytelling. And maybe because it’s about vampires, it doesn’t feel as campy as the original Max Payne somewhat feels in hindsight. And when you enter new areas, you’re hit with that delightful bass drum pulse and big title screen in bold white lettering ala Control.

    Screenshot: Strange Scaffold / Kotaku

    While some environments did have me running around a bit guessing as to where I supposed to go, the ride through this preview was genuine fun and I was quite bummed to hit the end of the preview.

    And you know, I can talk all day about how I think the enemy variety mixes things up pleasantly, or how there seems to be a nice balance of resource management, but feeling like I don’t want to put the gamepad down? That’s a feeling I like in a game.

    El Paso, Elsewhere is expected to launch later this year, 2023, on PC and Xbox.

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    Claire Jackson

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  • Party City Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

    Party City Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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    The retailer where everyone could count on a set of balloons and streamers is making a major financial move: bankruptcy.


    Joe Raedle / Staff I Getty Images

    Party City in Miami.

    Party City, the nationwide party store, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday, according to CNBC and a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    The company has some $1.7 billion in debt.

    “In the face of pandemic headwinds, a global supply chain crisis, and other macroeconomic challenges that have faced our industry, we have made significant strides in PCHI’s ongoing transformation,” said CEO Brad Weston in a release.

    “Today’s action to strengthen PCHI’s balance sheet will bolster our ability to further advance our strategic priorities and continue to innovate and elevate the customer experience,” his statement added.

    In the filing, the company said it had secured $150 million in funding, which it will ask the court for permission to use to pay vendors, suppliers, and employee wages and benefits. It has already secured the support for its plan to file for bankruptcy from a group (like a holding company) that “holds” more than 70% of its “first lien” debt. That is debt that must be paid off first, essentially.

    The bankruptcy process for Party City — as is often the case — is to give it a chance to restructure its debt.

    Party City was founded in 1947 in New York, and went public in 2015, per the Wall Street Journal. It saw growth up until about 2019, per CNBC, as it became a hotspot for party ephemera including streamers, balloons, and costumes.

    But several factors helped take the retailer down, including the pop-up costume store Spirit Halloween, according to CNN.

    As the Journal noted, the store faced cut-down parties in the pandemic, supplier issues with helium, and even inflation, which the company said brought down the demand for their products.

    The helium shortage was particularly an issue for the company, which it called a “focal point of our growth strategy and are a key driver of our differentiated brand experience,” per CNN.

    An analyst who followed Party City told CNBC that the company also just lost ground to changing consumer preferences and competitors.

    “They’re competing against Walmart, and Target and Amazon and the dollar stores and grocery stores,” said Joe Feldman, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group.

    The company also kept its 800-plus stores open, even amid declining sales, and “burned cash,” as the outlet wrote.

    Party City’s international sectors and franchised stores will remain operational as-is, the company said in its SEC filing.

    “We appreciate the commitment of our team members and the continued support of our partners as we further enhance our position as the ‘go to’ one-stop-shop for celebrating life’s special moments,” Weston added in the release.

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    Gabrielle Bienasz

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