EXHIBIT 31.1



CERTIFICATION BY THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002



I, Gary W. Rada, President and Chief Executive Officer of Factory Card & Party Outlet
Corp., certify that:



|1. |  | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Factory Card & Party Outlet Corp.;
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|2. |  | Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterly report;
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|3. |  | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition,
results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;
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|4. |  | The registrants other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14
and 15d-14) for the registrant and we have:
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| | a) |  | designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or revised such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;
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| | b) |  | evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the
disclosure controls and procedures, as of the and the period covered by this quarterly report based on such evaluation; and
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| | c) |  | disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the registrants internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrants most recent fiscal
quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants internal control over financial reporting; and
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|5. |  | The registrants other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrants
auditors and the audit committee of registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
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| | a) |  | all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
registrants ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
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| | b) |  | any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrants internal controls.
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Date:  September 10, 2003



/s/    GARY W.
RADAGary W. Rada President and Chief Executive Officer