End of an Era: Litin’s Party Value to Close

Litin’s Party Value—a locally-owned Minneapolis party supply store from a time before Party City, dollar stores, and, of course, Amazon—is closing after more than 50 years in business. A liquidation sale begins Tuesday, June 11.

“It kept getting harder and harder,” said owner Ned Litin, whose father Don Litin started the business in the 1950s as a wholesale paper distributor and opened to the public in 1966. Throughout the decades, Litin’s Party Value hopscotched from one historic Minneapolis storefront to another, operating out of the Thresher building on Park Avenue and then the FC Hayer Building at 701 Washington Ave. N., which is now home to the Freehouse restaurant and Bar.

Ned Litin sold the distribution side of the business in 2018, the same year the store moved from its high-visibility space near the Minneapolis Farmers Market to its current location at 913 Plymouth Ave. N. That move proved challenging for a retail business that was already facing increased competition.

“We were on a main thoroughfare with free parking and had a tremendous audience in the North Loop and Northeast, but not as many customers followed us,” Litin lamented. He points to the pandemic, however, as the beginning of the end.

“People really changed the way they shop,” Litin said. “They got more used to shopping online.”

A Paycheck Protection Program loan for small businesses during the Covid crisis allowed Litin’s Party Value to stay in business, and even return to profitability in 2022. But 2023 was a losing year, and with his lease set to expire in August, Litin decided to announce the supply store’s permanent closure.

It’s likely the inventory will be long gone before then—Litin estimates he has enough to last a few weeks. Seasonal merchandise will be marked half off this week. Paper and party goods—plates, drink ware, placemats and the like—will start at 15% off.

Not one to sugarcoat the truth, Litin said it’s always been an arduous business, even before e-commerce and national competition. “Seven days a week, lots of lifting and merchandise changing,” Litin said. But being part of life’s celebrations—engagement parties, baby showers, graduations—made it all worthwhile.

“We had such spectacular customers, suppliers, and employees.”

Source:TCBmag.com