BATON ROUGE - The nation's largest party-themed specialty chain has filed for bankruptcy, but said it has secured enough money to keep its stores open and running.

Party City cited a debt of $1.7 billion in its regulatory filing. It follows several years of significant losses.

Party City operated 761 permanent locations at the start of the new year. That includes one in Baton Rouge -- at Siegen Village -- and several more in other Louisiana cities.

Like other brick-and-mortar retailers, the company has faced challenged from online competitors. A recent helium shortage also hurt Party City, which offers floating balloons among its popular merchandise.

Party City stock dropped below a value of $1 per share last year and was trading at less than 40 cents per share on Wednesday.