2 RI Christmas Tree Shops to close in company's bankruptcy proceedings
WARWICK − Christmas Tree Shops in Warwick, Middletown and North Attleboro appear to be poised to close their doors forever, and going-out-of-business sales could begin as early as Thursday.
The liquidation sales and closure of all Christmas Tree Shops in the country was outlined in proposed orders filed in federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on June 29.
The Middleborough, Massachusetts-based retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 5, along with its parent company, Handil Holdings. At that time, the retailer announced the closing of 10 of its 82 stores, but neither was in Rhode Island, and in a statement the company said the bankruptcy filing was “strictly financial restructuring.”
Latest filings show struggle to keep shelves stocked, further financial problems
The two Rhode Island stores are among 74 Christmas Tree Shops stores – all the remaining locations – that are slated to be closed. Other stores likely to close are in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan, Georgia and Florida.
On June 5, the Bankruptcy Court authorized DIP Financing (Debtor in Possession) that allowed Christmas Tree Shops to refinance its debt in order to pay employees and restructure the company. Since then, the company has not been able to meet the obligations of that loan.
During a court hearing on June 29, Christmas Tree Shops attorney Harold Murphy said the retailer started running into new problems in early June, when it was unable to quickly refill its shelves as sales outstripped projections.
Murphy said shoppers treat the retailer like a treasure hunt, going in for a specific item, and often leaving with lots more stuff. When the shelves are sparsely stocked, shoppers are leaving with just the things they went in to buy.
Business was brisk inside the Warwick store on Monday afternoon in advance of the holiday. Shelves were fairly well stocked, although beach-related merchandise appeared to be running low.
Christmas Tree Shops has total assets worth $49.6 million and $16 million in liabilities, according to a monthly operating report submitted to the bankruptcy court.
The debtors in the bankruptcy filing include Christmas Tree Shops LLC, Nantucket Distributing Co., Handil LLC, Handil Holdings LLC, and the Salkovitz Family Trust 2 LLC.
Calls to lawyer Harold King, who filed the document for Christmas Tree Shops, were not immediately returned Monday.
How Christmas Tree Shops started
In the 1950s, a couple, Mark and Alice Matthews, opened The Christmas Tree Gift Shop in Yarmouth Port, open from May to October each year. In 1970, Charles and Doreen Bilezikian bought the store and expanded over the next three decades and opened 24 more locations in New England and New York.
In 2003, Bed Bath & Beyond bought and expanded the franchise to 20 states. In November 2020, it sold the company to Middleborough-based Handil Holdings.
Bed Bath & Beyond, which also has stores in Warwick and Middletown, is going through its own bankruptcy proceedings.
Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com and Cape Cod Times reporter Denise Coffey at dcoffey@capecodonline.com. Cape Cod Times reporter Rasheek Tabassum Mujib contributed to this report.
Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Providence Journal subscription. Here's our latest offer.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Christmas Tree Shops stores in RI to close, hold going-out-of-business sales
