PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Party City, a store known for its costumes, party supplies and decorations — where "nobody has more party for less" — was open for its final day on Friday.
Shoppers at the location on Military Trail in West Palm Beach said they had to cash in on some last-minute deals.
WATCH: Shoppers take advantage of deals as Party City, Joann to close
"It was sad, the shelves were empty and there were 80% off papers everywhere," said Taryn Thompson.
She said she was on student council growing up and went to Party City for years to get her Halloween costume.
"The party's over, this is it, last trip," said Thompson. "I just love Party City and I'm really sad about it."
This comes as the company filed for bankruptcy. On its website the company issued this statement, in part:
"PCHI is grateful to its team members for their commitment over the years and is retaining more than 95% of its 12,000 employees for some time to assist with the wind down process. The Company thanks its customers for their business and appreciates the support it has received from its valued partners."
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End of an era: Party City to shut down Friday as rivals seek to absorb leases
Party City isn't the only local company closing its stores.
Joann is also going out of business, as shoppers at the Northlake location said it's a big hit to the craft community.
"When you heard Joann was closing what went through your mind?" asked WPTV's Joel Lopez.
"Oh, I was devastated, it's the end of an era and it's getting harder and harder for brick and mortar stores to stay open," said Helene Greenberg.
She's a quilter and sewer and was wrapping up a day of shopping for fabric.
"It's like going to a bookstore, it's the smell, it's the touch, it's the feel. It's unique and special and in two generations they wont know that," said Greenberg.
She worries about the shift to online retail as the company plans to close all of it's 800 locations but haven't announced by when.
WATCH: Joann plans to close all stores
"It's going to make it harder and harder for these businesses to be able to stay around so I think in '25 you're probably going to see some of the continued pressure. We've been seeing it for the last few years," said Brian Bastin.
He's a business expert with Keiser University who said 7,000 brick-and-mortar stores have closed down in the last year, and 50 chains have closed for good.
"A lot of time, especially when we talk about Party City, the Container Store and places like that, it's usually a lot of debt," said Bastin.
He said businesses with locations open in states like Florida are factoring in the expensive cost of real estate of the Sunshine State.
Bastin said affordable housing in states like Florida has also played a role as workers need a wage that can pay the cost of living.
"It's harder to find employees, you have to pay employees more and those overhead costs just start to go up up and up and it makes it more difficult for those brick-and-mortar stores to turn a profit and try to manage that deadload," said Bastin. "The inflation is still a concern for people."
He said the economy and cost of living have shifted people's budgets to online deals as they search for cheaper alternatives
"You will have brick-and-mortar stores out there but they're going to have to adapt, they're going to have to have some kind of seamless online platform to be able to help them merge both online and the retail side of things," said Bastin.
