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.
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.