Party City Holdco Inc. is an American publicly traded retail chain of party stores founded in 1986 by Steve Mandell in East Hanover, New Jersey. Party City's parent company is Party City Holdings Inc. Based in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, the company is the largest retailer of party goods in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, operating over 750 company-owned and franchise outlets under the Party City, Halloween City, Toy City, and Factory Card & Party Outlet brands. History 1986–1993: Founding and franchising Party City was founded by Steve Mandell in 1986, Mandell recognized that the market for party goods was highly fragmented with a lot of small mom-and-pop operations, a large number of retailers carrying limited supplies, and no big players dominating the party goods market. Mandell decided to specialize in the business when he struck out on his own to realize his long-cherished goal of running his own retail operation. After scraping together $125,000, he opened a store in East Hanover, New Jersey, naming it Party City. The operation was immediately successful and within a year Mandell started planning for a second location. He also began to hear from people asking to franchise the Party City concept, and as a result Party City began its evolution into a national chain. After his first year in business Mandell also decided to concentrate on Halloween, so that in 1987 over a quarter of his store was turned into a "Halloween Costume Warehouse". The move proved highly successful and led to the company's ongoing focus on the holiday, and the major impact that the month of October would have on the company's bottom line. Year-round, Party City stocked an inventory of Halloween costumes, if for no other reason than to make customers aware of the items for the next Halloween season. One quarter ($560 million) of Party City's 2015 revenue came from Halloween; the company operates about 300 Halloween City pop-up stores. Party City started franchising in 1989 in Hazlet, New Jersey, and by 1990 Mandell also owned four Party City stores. At this point he incorporated the business as a franchising operation, with his stores forming the core of the chain. By the end of 1990, Party City outlets numbered 11; five more franchised stores were added in 1991, 16 in 1992, and another 26 in 1993, bringing the total to 58. Party City was now a nationwide chain with