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Christmas Tree Shops
Company typePrivate
IndustryRetail
FoundedSeptember 15, 1970 (1970-09-15) in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, U.S.[1]
FounderCharles Bilezikian
Doreen Bilezikian
FateChapter 7 bankruptcy, liquidation
Headquarters
Middleborough, Massachusetts
,
U.S.
Area served
New England, Mid Atlantic, Midwest, Southeast
ProductsHousewares, home decor[2]
ParentBed Bath & Beyond (2003–2020)
Handil Holdings LLC (2020–2023)
Websitechristmastreeshops.com

Christmas Tree Shops (also known as Christmas Tree Shops andThat!, or simply andThat!) is an American chain of big-box specialty retail stores, headquartered in Middleborough, Massachusetts. As of 2023, the chain operates 72 stores in 20 U.S. states, primarily in the Northeast.[3]

In May 2023, Christmas Tree Shops filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; the case was later converted to Chapter 7, with the chain liquidating all assets. All remaining Christmas Tree Shops stores are now holding liquidation sales, and will close by August 2023.[4]

History

Early years

In 1970, Charles Bilezikian and his wife Doreen opened the first Christmas Tree Shops in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. The original location comprised three separate buildings: the Front Shop, the Back Shop and the Barn Shop (which mostly sold penny candy), hence the pluralization of the store's name. The first complex, which the Bilezikians lived above, was on Route 6A, and it was open seasonally in the spring through early fall.[5]

Beginning in the 1980s, the chain began expanding beyond Cape Cod, growing to reach eight stores by 1984.[6] That year, the company purchased the Cape Cod Coliseum and converted it to a warehouse. The chain then entered Connecticut with a store in Manchester in September 1993.[7]

In the mid-1990s, Christmas Tree Shops introduced a series of commercials in which the chain's customers were recorded showcasing items they purchased, paired with the soon-to-be famous jingle, "Don't you just love a bargain?". This campaign lasted well into the 2000s.[8]

Bed Bath & Beyond era

The chain was acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond in 2003, though the Bilezikians remained involved in its executive operations.[9] Under Bed Bath & Beyond, the chain began to expand beyond New England, arriving in Bed Bath & Beyond's native New Jersey, followed by Delaware and Pennsylvania. The chain entered the Midwest, with stores in Michigan and Ohio.

The original stores on Route 6A were closed in January 2007, though the site is now occupied by stores owned by the Bilezikians' son Greg.[10] Some of the earlier Cape Cod stores, as in West Dennis, are dwarfed by recently built stores.

andThat!

In 2013, Christmas Tree Shops introduced a new brand and store format called Christmas Tree Shops andThat!, with the name change intended to avoid confusion in new markets unfamiliar with the store.[11][12] By 2016, the name was shortened to simply "andThat!" for all new stores opened under Bed Bath & Beyond.

Handil era

Bed Bath & Beyond sold Christmas Tree Shops and its Middleborough, Massachusetts distribution center to Handil Holdings, a private company, for an undisclosed amount in November 2020.[13][14] A year later, in November 2021, the company opened nineteen pop-up holiday-themed stores across the United States; these remained open through January 3, 2022.[15]

In 2022, the brand's logo was updated to prominently feature 'CTS,' and the chain's tagline was changed from 'Every Season, Every Reason' to its previous, well-known jingle, 'Don't you just love a bargain?'. The chain's first new permanent stores under Handil, in Estero, Pembroke Pines, and Sarasota, Florida, opened throughout 2022.

Bankruptcy and liquidation

Christmas Tree Shop closing in Taylor, Michigan

On May 4, 2023, following the collapse of its former parent company, Bed Bath & Beyond, Christmas Tree Shops announced that it was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection;[16] the chain and its parent company, Handil Holdings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the next day, May 5.[17] Plans call for the closure of ten underperforming stores, allowing the company to restructure operations and emerge from bankruptcy by August.[18][19]

However, after the company defaulted on a loan during its bankruptcy, it was eventually announced that unless a buyer could be found for the chain by July 5, the case would be converted to Chapter 7 liquidation.[20][21] With no buyer found, liquidation sales began at all remaining stores nationwide on July 7, with the last stores expected to permanently shutter by the end of August.[4][22] The chain announced that day that gift cards would no longer be accepted after July 21.[23]

Stores

The Christmas Tree Shops store at the base of the Sagamore Bridge in Sagamore, Massachusetts. This store has been shut down
A big-box shopping center in Paramus, New Jersey, containing a Christmas Tree Shops and a Bed Bath & Beyond.

Christmas Tree Shops are bargain stores, selling food, toys, household furnishings, and Christmas decorations. Most stores typically resemble older buildings (Colonial, Victorian, or even Old English barn styles, such as in Sagamore and Pembroke, Massachusetts; and Warwick, Rhode Island). Some, such as the Lynnfield, Massachusetts store, are even more conceptualized; it is known for its lighthouse and fishing village motif.

Christmas Tree Shops also has several stores in enclosed shopping malls, such as inside the Colonie Center in Albany, New York, and Salmon Run Mall in Watertown, New York.

References

  1. ^ "Charles Bilezikian, 79; created the Christmas Tree Shops empire". BostonGlobe.com.
  2. ^ "Departments". Christmas Tree Shops and That!.
  3. ^ "Christmas Tree Shops Locations". Christmas Tree Shops. Archived from the original on 2023-05-07. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  4. ^ a b McDonald, Juli (2023-07-07). "Christmas Tree Shops begin store closing sales, plan to stop accepting gift cards". CBS Boston. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
  5. ^ "6 Things You Didn't Know About Christmas Tree Shops". Goodhousekeeping.com. 2015-10-30. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  6. ^ "Job with a View". The Boston Globe. 1984-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Saunders, Anne (1993-06-09). "Plans for store win approval". The Hartford Courant. pp. D3 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Goward, Jon (2020-02-18). "How all those Christmas Tree Shops ads happened" – via YouTube.
  9. ^ https://bedbathandbeyond.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/bed-bath-beyond-inc-announces-all-cash-acquisition-christmas
  10. ^ Vaccaro, Adam. "Where Christmas Tree Shops got the Holiday-themed name". boston.com. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  11. ^ Local store will be called ‘and That’, not Christmas Tree Shops Archived 2013-11-30 at archive.today Fredericksburg.com, October 24, 2013
  12. ^ Allen, Jeremy (2013-10-12). "Bed, Bath & Beyond company opens 'andThat!' retail store in Flint Township". MLive. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  13. ^ Bed Bath & Beyond sells Christmas Tree Shops and hospitality operation/
  14. ^ Sozzi, Brian (14 October 2020). "Bed Bath & Beyond CEO: We are starting to get some runs on the board". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  15. ^ Shoulberg, Warren. "New Owners Find Christmas Tree Shops Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  16. ^ "Christmas Tree Shops may soon file for bankruptcy protection". Fox Business. May 4, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  17. ^ "Discount Retailer Christmas Tree Shops Files for Bankruptcy". Bloomberg. May 5, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  18. ^ "Christmas Tree Shops files for bankruptcy, report says". WCVB. 2023-05-05. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  19. ^ Jones-Gorman, Jessica (2023-05-10). "Christmas Tree Shops shuttering 10 stores. See the full list of locations". Staten Island Advance. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  20. ^ "Christmas Tree Shops to liquidate all stores". Wall Street Journal. June 29, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  21. ^ "Christmas Tree Shops in Holyoke likely to begin liquidation". WWLP. 2023-07-03. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  22. ^ "Christmas Tree Shops Stores are GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!". PRNewswire. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
  23. ^ "Christmas Tree Shops to no longer accept gift cards". WCVB. July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
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