IParty to Buy 33 Stores

IParty Corp., which sells party goods over the Internet, plans to buy 33 retail stores in New England and Florida from Big Party Corp. for an undisclosed price. Big Party, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, operates 54 U.S. stores and had sales of about $69 million in 1999. New York-based IParty plans to acquire the inventory, fixed assets and leases of Big Party stores in six states. The purchase will give IParty its first “bricks-and-mortar” shops. IParty shares closed unchanged at 50 cents on the American Stock Exchange.