April 21, 2026
Photo courtesy of Staples, Party City
Is the Party City and Staples Partnership Cause for Celebration?
With Staples staring down continued store closures and Party City having famously shuttered nearly all of its U.S. stores following a high-profile bankruptcy, it appears that both embattled entities are now joining forces in a new effort to drum up business.
The details are a bit sparse at this point in time, as delivered via an April 21 press release: Party City will be making appearances via in-store installations at Staples locations nationwide, with the participating store count targeted at over 700 locations immediately and expansion of the program on the table throughout the remainder of the year.
“Just in time for graduation season, the collaboration brings Party City’s selection of balloons, décor and party supplies together with Staples same-day print and marketing services,” the press release stated.
“Together, this creates a single destination for a wide range of personal and professional occasions — from birthdays and baby showers to grand openings and retirement parties. Customers can shop party décor, tableware, gift bags, costume accessories and favors, while also creating personalized invitations, banners, yard signs and posters through Staples print services,” it added.
Several promotional offers are backing the play, including — a buy two, get one free deal on select foil ballons; a discount of $5 on the purchase of party supplies totaling $25 or greater; an assortment of inflatable bouquets starting at just under $20; and a significant 40% price cut on custom cards, invitations, photo gifts, wrapping paper, posters, banners and yard signs; all running from today through June 13.
The press release claimed that approximately 4 million high school students were set to cross the stage this year, and that spending tied to graduation last year was $6.8 billion — a hefty cut of which the new partners in the celebration space were looking to capture in 2026.
“Staples has always been focused on making things easy for our customers, and our partnership with Party City takes that promise into new territory,” said Marshall Warkentin, President, Staples U.S. Retail.
“By bringing Party City into Staples stores, we’re expanding what customers can accomplish in one place — combining helium balloons and party supplies with our print and marketing services to offer a complete solution for celebrations, from graduations to grand openings and everything in between,” he continued.
Staples Attempts To Balance B2B Pivot with Traditional In-Store Partnerships
Staples, in particular, has been shifting a great deal of its focus to high-volume B2B operations and ecomm, similar to competitor Office Depot. That doesn’t mean it has entirely given up on the in-store experience, however, and this latest partnership with Party City is just one of many it has kicked off as of late.
In-store optical care centers have been installed in conjunction with Stanton Optical, and Verizon has helmed the introduction of additional tech services in certain Staples locations.
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Discussion Questions
Will the partnership between Staples and Party City bear meaningful fruit, in your opinion? Why or why not? What obstacles exist?
What sort of innovations beyond the most obvious plays might Staples or Party City leverage in order to drive unique interest in this team-up? Could fun actually sell at Staples?
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Staples continues to try and make itself relevant. And this isn’t a bad way of doing it – but, the whole world and his wife have tried to cash in on the failure of Party City. So Staples will need to find ways to differentiate from Michaels, Target and the like – all of which are more closely affiliated with the celebration space. And let’s be brutally honest here: the words Staples and fun are not natural companions!
I’m not convinced this is the obvious win some are making it out to be. The real question is whether an office supply shopper is also looking for party décor, and whether a party supply customer sees Staples as a natural destination.
That overlap may be smaller than it appears.
Retail partnerships work best when the customer mission is closely aligned. If the connection feels forced, it can create confusion more than convenience. Buying printer ink and buying birthday balloons are very different errands, even if they happen under the same roof.
That said, if Staples targets the right occasions, like office celebrations, school events, graduations, and small business gatherings, there is a lane where this can work. The opportunity is less about broad crossover and more about solving specific needs at the right moment.
Smaller than it appears? How about not at all.
Didn’t all of these shopping journeys migrate online? (Except for helium balloons, of course…)
Two rights don’t make a wrong but do two losers make a winner?
What is the competitive product or service that will miraculously bring this duo back to life, much less relevance?
I was a loyal Staples customer but stopped shopping there years ago because their customer service got progressively worse. So I was not surprised when bad customer service in a highly competitive market resulted in poor performance (and store closures). That prediction was EASY.
I think this says it all (from the article): “The details are a bit sparse at this point in time.”
We have some sort of family get-together every month, so I actually miss Party City. I know I am not alone.
Staples is collecting so many partners it’s starting to feel like a mini-mall. One-stop shopping. Although, I don’t see myself stopping in for an eye exam any time soon.
Neither Staples nor Party City is driving traffic on their own the way they used to. Combining forces to create more of a one-stop shop makes sense, but success will hinge on whether customers start to connect the dots between the two. Until that happens, it’ll play more as a convenience for existing shoppers than a driver of new trips.
Last week Allbirds. This week Staples. Two brands flirting with the same mistake: mistaking distance from the core for progress.
A brand does not get stronger by getting random. It grows by extending the logic customers already trust. Allbirds had a clear emotional center. Staples does too. Utility. Speed. Print. Problem solving. Party City feels less like evolution and more like distraction dressed up as innovation.
The real work is not chasing a new aisle. It is making your core more relevant in the moment you are in. …the fastest way to lose brand heat is to flirt with what never fit in the first place.
The emotional center for Allbirds – which was sustainability – may have been clear, but it was totally misplaced. The number of consumers who buy footwear with sustainability as the foremost driver of selection is minuscule (under 2% from our latest data). Allbirds should have placed sustainability as the bonus attribute that comes after something like comfort or style. It never did, so its performance was abysmal: it never made money and suffered a sustained and rather shocking decline in sales. The latest pivot to an AI compute company is ridiculous, but it’s because the brand assets of Allbirds were sold off in whole, so the business entity became a shell without a purpose.
The partnership between Staples and Party City feels less like retail survival and more like a test of imagination. Balloons next to business cards only work if they tell a connected story. The real opportunity is turning moments into packaged experiences where a graduation kit includes décor, invites, signage, and pickup in one flow.
The risk is it becomes visual clutter without cohesion. If data, inventory, and personalization stay disconnected, customers will notice the seams. But if stitched together well, Staples stops being a store and starts becoming the place where celebrations actually come to life.
Why did Staples go downhill? Why did Party City go downhill? What will change in the answer now?
Practically speaking: 1. Staples certainly has the space. 2. Party City was frequently located in the same or nearby strip malls. 3. Businesses use party products. 4. Party products add some dimension/novelty to the selling floor. Will it drive additional traffic? Getting the word out will be critical.
I first encountered this about a month ago when I stopped into my local Staples for, of course, printer paper and ink. I parked and looked up to be greeted by a big sign reading, “Party City has arrived…!!!” My thought at the time was that it seemed a bit random, but ok. What then struck me was walking inside the store and seeing…nothing. No additional signs or arrows pointing me towards the new Party City aisle or department or whatever. I was focused on my paper and ink mission so I did not explore the store. On the next visit about a week ago, the big sign out front was now a small sign at the front door. Still no in-store directions or call outs. I understand the yearning and quest for incremental sales, even if the marriage is not quite made in heaven, but the whole idea seems like it could have been executed with a lot more horsepower. At this point, Staples has not risen to the level of becoming my go-to store for party supplies. If anything, the opposite, given my observations to date.
I seriously question where Staples is going to make room in its floor plan for the ‘party’ line and how much of its core-merchandise space will Staples have to relinquish to engage in this venture. I have my doubts. Staples would do better to bolster its customer service by training more thoroughly on its products and their location in the store and by injecting avery associate with a ‘smile’ vaccine. (RFK Jr. beware.)
So one retail offering is requisite and logical work stuff I must have to be an effective professional, and the other is party time all the time, let loose at the house, and don’t look back. It’ll be interesting to see how this gets marketed and positioned to customers in a way that makes sense to them.
The shop in shop concept is a cyclical one and makes sense for Party City. Brands have often turned to digital only when returning to the market–think Toys R Us and Bed Bath and Beyond, and then expand back into their own channels. Party City is a physical destination concept so shared overhead with Staples is a smart move.
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Staples continues to try and make itself relevant. And this isn’t a bad way of doing it – but, the whole world and his wife have tried to cash in on the failure of Party City. So Staples will need to find ways to differentiate from Michaels, Target and the like – all of which are more closely affiliated with the celebration space. And let’s be brutally honest here: the words Staples and fun are not natural companions!
I’m not convinced this is the obvious win some are making it out to be. The real question is whether an office supply shopper is also looking for party décor, and whether a party supply customer sees Staples as a natural destination.
That overlap may be smaller than it appears.
Retail partnerships work best when the customer mission is closely aligned. If the connection feels forced, it can create confusion more than convenience. Buying printer ink and buying birthday balloons are very different errands, even if they happen under the same roof.
That said, if Staples targets the right occasions, like office celebrations, school events, graduations, and small business gatherings, there is a lane where this can work. The opportunity is less about broad crossover and more about solving specific needs at the right moment.
Smaller than it appears? How about not at all.
Didn’t all of these shopping journeys migrate online? (Except for helium balloons, of course…)
Two rights don’t make a wrong but do two losers make a winner?
What is the competitive product or service that will miraculously bring this duo back to life, much less relevance?
I was a loyal Staples customer but stopped shopping there years ago because their customer service got progressively worse. So I was not surprised when bad customer service in a highly competitive market resulted in poor performance (and store closures). That prediction was EASY.
I think this says it all (from the article): “The details are a bit sparse at this point in time.”
We have some sort of family get-together every month, so I actually miss Party City. I know I am not alone.
Staples is collecting so many partners it’s starting to feel like a mini-mall. One-stop shopping. Although, I don’t see myself stopping in for an eye exam any time soon.
Neither Staples nor Party City is driving traffic on their own the way they used to. Combining forces to create more of a one-stop shop makes sense, but success will hinge on whether customers start to connect the dots between the two. Until that happens, it’ll play more as a convenience for existing shoppers than a driver of new trips.
Last week Allbirds. This week Staples. Two brands flirting with the same mistake: mistaking distance from the core for progress.
A brand does not get stronger by getting random. It grows by extending the logic customers already trust. Allbirds had a clear emotional center. Staples does too. Utility. Speed. Print. Problem solving. Party City feels less like evolution and more like distraction dressed up as innovation.
The real work is not chasing a new aisle. It is making your core more relevant in the moment you are in. …the fastest way to lose brand heat is to flirt with what never fit in the first place.
The emotional center for Allbirds – which was sustainability – may have been clear, but it was totally misplaced. The number of consumers who buy footwear with sustainability as the foremost driver of selection is minuscule (under 2% from our latest data). Allbirds should have placed sustainability as the bonus attribute that comes after something like comfort or style. It never did, so its performance was abysmal: it never made money and suffered a sustained and rather shocking decline in sales. The latest pivot to an AI compute company is ridiculous, but it’s because the brand assets of Allbirds were sold off in whole, so the business entity became a shell without a purpose.
The partnership between Staples and Party City feels less like retail survival and more like a test of imagination. Balloons next to business cards only work if they tell a connected story. The real opportunity is turning moments into packaged experiences where a graduation kit includes décor, invites, signage, and pickup in one flow.
The risk is it becomes visual clutter without cohesion. If data, inventory, and personalization stay disconnected, customers will notice the seams. But if stitched together well, Staples stops being a store and starts becoming the place where celebrations actually come to life.
Why did Staples go downhill? Why did Party City go downhill? What will change in the answer now?
Practically speaking: 1. Staples certainly has the space. 2. Party City was frequently located in the same or nearby strip malls. 3. Businesses use party products. 4. Party products add some dimension/novelty to the selling floor. Will it drive additional traffic? Getting the word out will be critical.
I first encountered this about a month ago when I stopped into my local Staples for, of course, printer paper and ink. I parked and looked up to be greeted by a big sign reading, “Party City has arrived…!!!” My thought at the time was that it seemed a bit random, but ok. What then struck me was walking inside the store and seeing…nothing. No additional signs or arrows pointing me towards the new Party City aisle or department or whatever. I was focused on my paper and ink mission so I did not explore the store. On the next visit about a week ago, the big sign out front was now a small sign at the front door. Still no in-store directions or call outs. I understand the yearning and quest for incremental sales, even if the marriage is not quite made in heaven, but the whole idea seems like it could have been executed with a lot more horsepower. At this point, Staples has not risen to the level of becoming my go-to store for party supplies. If anything, the opposite, given my observations to date.
I seriously question where Staples is going to make room in its floor plan for the ‘party’ line and how much of its core-merchandise space will Staples have to relinquish to engage in this venture. I have my doubts. Staples would do better to bolster its customer service by training more thoroughly on its products and their location in the store and by injecting avery associate with a ‘smile’ vaccine. (RFK Jr. beware.)
So one retail offering is requisite and logical work stuff I must have to be an effective professional, and the other is party time all the time, let loose at the house, and don’t look back. It’ll be interesting to see how this gets marketed and positioned to customers in a way that makes sense to them.
The shop in shop concept is a cyclical one and makes sense for Party City. Brands have often turned to digital only when returning to the market–think Toys R Us and Bed Bath and Beyond, and then expand back into their own channels. Party City is a physical destination concept so shared overhead with Staples is a smart move.