Beware of IParty Stores: You may be Tricked and Not Treated Well

by UNCENSORED NEWS | October 31, 2011 at 09:33 am

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While you are out and about doing your shopping in the upcoming holiday seasons make sure that you are fully aware of refund policies that go along with the merchandise that you are buying.

IParty Retail Stores is a popular costume store founded in the Boston area and now online which carries many different items that are necessary for parties and celebrations. They maintain a strict policy regarding their Halloween merchandise but unfortunately, some of the workers don't know their own policies.

One lady from Avon, Massachusetts was very upset when the cashier told her that she would be able to return her son's costume if it didn't fit but that she would only get a store credit.

But on October 31st, the day of Halloween the woman tried to exchange the costume for a store credit to buy another costume in a bigger size and the Supervisor turned her away. The supervisor told her, "No, we don't give store credits." The woman pleaded with the IParty Supervisor in Avon, Massachusetts that she was told that she would get a store refund and that was the only reason she purchased the costume without her son being present but the store supervisor did not care about what the employee told the lady. Beware of IParty Stores. You may be tricked and not treated well. Although it is clear on the receipt that no Halloween merchandise will be refunded after October 21st. But what about those items purchased after the 21st of October? What are the rules for those purchases?

It's no surprise that they misrepresented the purchase because if you look at the Corporation records you will find some very interesting facts surrounding the store IParty.

In 2002, the corporation maintained that they had 15,122,675 shares of common stock issued and outstanding and another 3, 274,372 shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding. That's a far cry from current documentation which replaces Patrick Farrell as owner and claims Sal Perisano is owner, President and Chairman of the Board. Now, CWP shares are only totaled at 10,000. There is no IRS information regarding a sale of the corporation or a change in the current shares of 10,000. The only information that is public is as follows:

Directors and Officers Recent Trades:

Buy: Director Frank Haydu bought 20,000 shares of IPT stock on 08/20/2010 at the average price of 0.27. Frank Haydu owns at least 65,000 shares after this. The price of the stock has increased by 7.41% since.

Buy: Senior VP, Merch. & Marketing, 10% Owner Dorice Dionne bought 25,000 shares of IPT stock on 08/02/2010 at the average price of 0.27. Dorice Dionne owns at least 329,700 shares after this. The price of the stock has increased by 7.41% since.

Buy: Director Frank Haydu bought 1,300 shares of IPT stock on 05/06/2010 at the average price of 0.3. Frank Haydu owns at least 45,000 shares after this. The price of the stock has decreased by 3.33% since.

Buy: Director Frank Haydu bought 5,300 shares of IPT stock on 05/03/2010 at the average price of 0.3. Frank Haydu owns at least 43,700 shares after this. The price of the stock has decreased by 3.33% since.

Buy: Director Frank Haydu bought 13,400 shares of IPT stock on 04/30/2010 at the average price of 0.3. Frank Haydu owns at least 38,400 shares after this. The price of the stock has decreased by 3.33% since.
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The following Board Members own and operate a popular store called IParty Retail Stores (exact corporation name) and a website IParty.com:

Sal Perisano

Mr. Sal V. Perisano is Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer of iParty Corp. He has served as a director of iParty since 1998 and its Chief Executive Officer since 1999. Mr. Perisano served as Chairman of the Board and President of The Big Party Corporation from 1992 to 1998, and continued serving as a director until 2000. In 1981, he co-founded Videosmith, which became a video retailer in the Boston area. In 1989, Videosmith was sold to a publicly traded company called Xtravision PLC, which owned 250 stores throughout the U.K. and Ireland. Mr. Perisano stayed on as a director and was later named Chief Executive Officer of the parent company, which was subsequently acquired by Blockbuster Video. Mr. Perisano holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and a master’s degree from Harvard University.

David Robertson
Mr. David E. Robertson is Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of iParty Corp. He has served as iParty’s Chief Financial Officer since April 2007. From January 2005 until April 2007, Mr. Robertson was employed as a private accounting consultant, primarily in the area of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, for a variety of public and private companies. From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Robertson served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Kitchen Etc. Inc., a specialty (cooking and dining) retailer, headquartered in Exeter, New Hampshire, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004. From 1996 to 1999, he established and operated a professional services firm based in Nashua, New Hampshire. From 1985 to 1996, he held a variety of positions in the audit, accounting, and financial operations of Lechmere, Inc. From 1980 to 1985, Mr. Robertson worked as an audit and accounting manager at Zayre Corp. (now TJX Companies). From 1975 to 1979, he was employed in the audit division of Ernst & Young. Mr. Robertson is a Certified Public Accountant. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, and a master’s degree from Northeastern University.

Dorice Dionne
Ms. Dorice Dionne is Senior Vice President - Marketing and Merchandising of iParty Corp. She co-founded The Big Party Corporation in 1992 in Boston. She served as chief merchant and creative director of The Big Party and has been involved in the party retailing industry since 1985. She is a graduate of Boston College.

Daniel De Wolf
Mr. Daniel I. De Wolf is Independent Director of iParty Corp. In March 2004, Mr. DeWolf joined the law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohen, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo PC. as counsel and in 2008 became a member of the corporate practice in the New York office and Co-Chair of its Venture and Emerging Companies Practice Group. Mr. DeWolf is also a Managing Director of Dawntreader Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, which he co-founded in 1998, and an adjunct professor at the New York University Law School, where he teaches venture capital law. From 1999 to 2003, Mr. DeWolf was Director of Venture Capital Funds for SoundView Technology Group. Prior to joining SoundView, Mr. DeWolf was Of Counsel with the law firm of Cahmy, Karlinsky & Stein LLP (“CKS”) in New York City. Mr. DeWolf established the Corporate and Securities Practice Group at CKS in 1994 and was the head of that firm’s New Media and E-Law Group. Mr. DeWolf has over 25 years of corporate transactional experience and has been an advisor to many early and developmental stage companies. Mr. DeWolf is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania as well as the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Mr. DeWolf currently serves as a director of various privately-held companies, including HNW, Inc., Tutor.com, and Visible World. The Company believes that Mr. DeWolf’s diversified background in capital finance and legal and regulatory matters give him the qualities and skills to serve as a director.

Frank Haydu
Mr. Frank W. Haydu III., is Independent Director of iParty Corp. He is a professional director and consultant to public and private businesses. Mr. Haydu currently serves as a director and Chairman of the Board of Zalicus, Inc., a public company, and several private companies. From 2001 until 2005, Mr. Haydu served as a Managing Director of Valuation Perspectives, Inc., a financial services consulting practice, and from 2005 until 2009, he served in a consulting capacity at Source Precision Medicine, a life sciences medical supplier. Mr. Haydu holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Muhlenberg College. The Company believes that Mr. Haydu’s broad based experience in business and finance, including his background in business consulting and management gives him the qualities and skills to serve as a director.

Joseph Vassalluzzo
Mr. Joseph S. Vassalluzzo is Independent Director of iParty Corp. Since February 2006, he has served as the Non-executive Vice Chairman of Federal Realty Investment Trust, a publicly held REIT and a member of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Compensation Committee. From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Vassalluzzo served as Vice Chairman of Staples, Inc., in which capacity he was responsible for Staples’ store growth, both domestic and abroad, oversaw Staples’ corporate environmental initiatives and legal department, and was responsible for its merger and acquisition activities worldwide. He first joined Staples, Inc. in 1989 as its Executive Vice President, Growth & Support Services. He was named Executive Vice President, Global Growth and Development of Staples, Inc. in 1993, was promoted to President, Staples Realty & Development in 1997, and was further promoted to Vice Chairman of Staples, Inc. in 2000. Before joining Staples, Mr. Vassalluzzo held executive positions at American Stores Co., Acme Supermarkets, Mobil Corp. and Amerada Hess Corp. Mr. Vassalluzzo currently serves as an independent director, member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, member of the Compensation Committee, and Non-executive Chairman of the Board of Federal Realty Investment Trust, a publicly-held REIT. He also serves as an independent director, member of the Finance Committee, Chairman of the Compensation Committee and Non-executive Lead Director of Life Time Fitness, Inc. Previously, Mr. Vassalluzzo served as an independent director and member of the Compensation, Audit and Real Estate Committees of Commerce Bancorp., Inc. Mr. Vassalluzzo holds a B.S. degree in Marketing from Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Temple University.