iParty Corp. reported sales of $16.4 million for October, a 6.5% drop from total sales from the same period last year. The party goods retailer has attributed loses to a week economy and hurricane Sandy, which affected retailers in the New England area.
In response to these figures, iParty has outsourced and hired an investment bank, Raymond James & Associates, to investigate a range of strategic alternatives.
“For the second consecutive year, our Halloween business was impacted by severe storms hitting the Northeast, in both years striking two days before the Halloween holiday. The anticipation of Hurricane Sandy in our core markets disrupted normal business for several days prior to the storm’s actual passage and closed most of our stores in our core market the day of the storm,” said company CEO Sal Perisano (Boston.com).