Christmas Tree Shops is closing all 70 stores

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN

New York (CNN) — Christmas Tree Shops will liquidate all of its stores and go out of business unless a white knight comes out of the woodwork at the 11th hour.

The discount retail chain, which sold a variety of home goods, disclosed in a court filing last week that it defaulted on a $45 million loan and is closing its roughly 70 stores in the coming weeks.

The closure comes after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May in a bid to turn around the 53-year-old company. However, its sales continued to decline and Christmas Tree Shops ran out of the money it needed to go forward with the bankruptcy plan. Late last week, the company decided to permanently close its business instead.

Bed Bath & Beyond, now also bankrupt, sold Christmas Tree Shops in 2020 to Handil Holdings, which had hoped to revitalize the discount chain.

The retailer started in the 1950s as a small holiday store in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Years later, the company expanded its assortment into “quaint, treasure-filled spaces” for bargain hunters. It kept its name because it was “adding to the store’s fun, quirky personality.”

Retailers, particularly ones that sell homewares, have struggled as customers have switched to online shopping at Amazon and other big-box chains, including Walmart and Target. US shoppers are also cutting back their spending on discretionary goods because of higher interest rates, tightening credit conditions and the resumption of student loan payments.

Rivals, such as Party City and Tuesday Morning, have also had financial difficulties resulting in bankruptcy. Bed Bath and Beyond and Tuesday Morning are also liquidating.

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