Its headquarters is at 1845 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with showrooms in New York City, Memphis, Tennessee, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Hong Kong.

In 1928, the company acquired a majority interest in Lit Brothers of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, later merging it into City Stores' operations in 1951.

After going into receivership in 1931, City Stores Company could no longer meet its financial obligation to Bankers Securities Corporation (B.S.C.

The company expanded its holdings of department stores with the acquisition in 1948, of Wise, Smith & Co. of Hartford, Connecticut, and Lansburgh's of Washington, D.C., in 1951.

In 1966, City Stores acquired Wolf & Dessauer Co. of Fort Wayne, Indiana, but sold the company in 1969, along with Kaufman-Straus to L. S. Ayres.

After several years of low profits or net losses, City Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 1979.

Jack Farber, president of PII, became chairman of City Stores and was elected CEO in February 1980.

In 1991, Paper Magic acquired Spearhead Industries of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a manufacturer of Halloween and Easter products.

In the mid-2000s, CSS was reorganized into three affiliates: Berwick Offray (the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of decorative ribbons and bows); Cleo (the premier provider of seasonal gift packaging products); and the Paper Magic Group (a manufacturer of a vast array of seasonal merchandise - ranging from greeting cards to Halloween costumes).