Utah retailer opens Springfield store at former Party City space

A Utah-based retailer that offers supplies for events such as birthday parties and weddings has taken the place of the shuttered Party City store in Springfield.

Nick Zurcher, president of Draper, Utah-based Zurchers, said via email that the company held a March 28 soft launch for the Springfield store at 2620 S Campbell Ave., with a grand opening planned "in the near future."

“With Party City closing its doors, we saw an opportunity to expand our family business into Missouri,” Zurcher said. “We took over the Party City lease and hope to extend our lease in the future.”

The Springfield store has nine employees, said Zurcher.

Sam Grube, the local store manager, leads the staff who have experience at that location.

"We're the staff from Party City," Grube said, noting the employee count at Zurchers is down by about half from Party City.

Party City announced in December that it would wind down operations at its roughly 700 stores nationwide amid bankruptcy proceedings.

A notice at Zurchers.com indicates the Springfield store is one of four former Party City locations the company has taken over. The others are in Omaha, Nebraska; Overland Park, Kansas; and Mesquite, Texas.

The Springfield location of Zurchers is in South Creek Crossing, where Party City relocated in 2015 after previously operating at a shared building with Incredible Pizza Co. at 2840 S. Campbell Ave., according to Springfield Business Journal archives. Greene County assessor records list South Creek Crossing LLC as the owner of the nearly 14,000-square-foot building.

Grube said Zurchers has similar stock to that of Party City, but with "a lot more specialized stuff" such as candy and sodas. Zurchers' website indicates the company offers a variety of balloon options, birthday decorations and supplies, wedding inventory such as tableware and wearables, costumes and the ability to shop by color.