If you ask the rest of the country what comes to mind when they think of New England, some may say maple syrup, lobsters, cold winters, and rocky beaches.
And while those things may certainly be found in parts of New England, it doesn't tell the whole story. Ask New Englanders themselves what makes the region so special, and they'll list the region's long array of elite universities, Dunkin' Donuts, and Christmas Tree Shops. (Plus maybe a few secret spots for the best lobster rolls.)
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Christmas Tree Shops, for the uninitiated, is a discount retailer headquartered in Middleborough, MA -- roughly 45 minutes between Providence, RI, and Boston, MA. It has about 80 locations in 20 states, but the bulk of its operations is concentrated in New England.
This is why it is particularly devastating for so many of us to learn the news of Christmas Tree Shops' potentially imminent bankruptcy.
Christmas Tree Shops, which rebranded to CTS during its expansion since many non-New Englanders thought it just sold Christmas trees, sells deep-discount furniture, food, home goods, outdoor accessories, and of course, holiday decoration. It started as a small Christmas knick-knack shop in Cape Cod, MA in the 1950s and has since expanded to a massive liquidation outlet with a familiar jingle: "Don't you just love a bargain?"
Christmas Tree Shops Meets an Untimely Demise
Christmas Tree Shops was bought by Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) in 2003 and enjoyed relative success and expansion through the mid-2010s. It was spun off for about $233 million in proceeds by the doomed retailer in 2020 to Handil Holdings, where it has since been run by entrepreneurs Pam and Marc Salkovitz.
In 2022, Christmas Tree Shops was rebranded to CTS at the Salkovitzes' behest and continued to expand. It recently opened a Sarasota, FL location in December 2022.
Christmas Tree shops reportedly had between $50-$100 million in assets and between $100-$500 million in debts. It blamed high-interest rates, inflation, and decreased demand for home decoration for its problems.
It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Delaware court on May 5, calling it a "strictly financial restructuring." CTS intends to keep all but 10 stores operational. It currently employs about 5,700 employees but has not yet filed any Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN) with its home state of Massachusetts yet.
TheStreet has reached out to Christmas Tree Shops for comment, but the company has yet to respond.
