The beloved Christmas Tree Shops stores are expected to close by the end of August, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. In South Jersey there are locations in Deptford, Cherry Hill and Mays Landing.
They are still hoping someone will acquire the retailer and keep most stores open, but it seems that has to happen very soon… say, in the next week.
The retailer does not want to pay an additional months rent for September, so they are looking to be full closed by the end of August.
Back in May the chain (which then consisted of 80 locations) filed for bankruptcy, and as part of that initial plan they closed 10 stores.
At the time they were loaned $45 Million dollars to help move the company forward and keep the remaining 70 stores open.
“Unfortunately, circumstances have resulted in the plan really not being able to go forward because quite simply, the debtor doesn’t have the time nor the money to go forward with the plan,”
Christmas Tree Shops in Bankruptcy Hearing
But it seems that already their sales revenue had slumped further since the May agreement, making them unable to meet the terms of the bankruptcy plan and loans.
Christmas Tree Stores Adds To Tough Year for Home Décor
Christmas Tree Shops are bargain stores focusing on seasonal home décor merchandise, as well as food products and toys.
Their stores always had interesting products to browse, and it was tough to visit without purchasing at least one item!
Christmas Tree Shops started in Massachusetts in 1970, as a seasonal business made up of three distinct buildings.
The company grew into 8 stores within the Cape Cod area and by 1984 had eight stores. They headed into Connecticut in 2003.
It wasn’t until they were purchased by Bed, Bath and Beyond in 2003 that they started a much more significant expansion, moving into the larger Northeast and Midwest regions. Today they have stores in 20 States.
In November 2020 the were sold by Bed Bath and Beyond to Handil Holdings, a private company operated by husband and wife team, Marc and Pam Salkovitz.
An article at Forbes.com states that at the time all stores were profitable, and the couple outlined a plan to further grow the company’s revenue.
While Bed, Bath and Beyond earned a substantial cash infusion from the sale back in 2020, earlier this year they started plans to close all stores.
In January they closed all of their Harmon Face Values stores, and then three months later they announced the closing of all Bed, Bath and Beyond stores and brands, including buybuy Baby stores.
As mentioned, in the core 42Freeway area Christmas Tree Shops has locations in Deptford and Cherry Hill.
Also earlier this year, Tuesday Morning also closed all of their stores.
Prime Deptford Shopping Center Will Be Empty
The Deptford Christmas Tree Shops location is part of a relatively newer shopping center across from the mall that was originally developed to house all of the then Bed, Bath and Beyond stores; buybuy Baby, Harmon Face Values, Christmas Tree Shops and the namesake store, Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Three months ago we reported that Christmas Tree Shops was going to be the last remaining retailer in shopping center… but it appears that by the end of the summer it is very likely that the entire complex across from the mall will be closed.
In Cherry Hill the two stores were located next to each other in a larger shopping center which includes Home Depot on one end, and Wegmans on the other end.
No plans for these closed spaces has been announced yet.
Links and Locations
Christmas Tree Shops – Deptford
1775 Deptford Center Rd
Deptford, NJ 08096
Christmas Tree Shops – Cherry Hill
2130 Marlton Pike
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002