Christmas Tree Shops Files for Bankruptcy With Plan to Restructure
The 82-store chain Christmas Tree Shops filed for chapter 11 aiming to close 10 underperforming locations in bankruptcy . Photo: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa/Associated Press By Soma Biswas May 5, 2023 4:31 pm ET | WSJ Pro Discount home-goods retailer Christmas Tree Shops filed for chapter 11 on Friday with a plan to emerge from bankruptcy in months with its store base mostly intact. The 82-store chain filed bankruptcy aiming to close 10 underperforming locations in bankruptcy and to exit chapter 11 by August, Christmas Tree Shops said. The Middleboro, Mass.-based company has no plans to seek a buyer. Owners Marc and Pam Salkovitz, who are also creditors of the company, plan to retain an ownership stake in the restructured business, Mr. Salkovitz sai
The 82-store chain Christmas Tree Shops filed for chapter 11 aiming to close 10 underperforming locations in bankruptcy .
Photo: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa/Associated Press
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Discount home-goods retailer Christmas Tree Shops filed for chapter 11 on Friday with a plan to emerge from bankruptcy in months with its store base mostly intact.
The 82-store chain filed bankruptcy aiming to close 10 underperforming locations in bankruptcy and to exit chapter 11 by August, Christmas Tree Shops said. The Middleboro, Mass.-based company has no plans to seek a buyer.
Owners Marc and Pam Salkovitz, who are also creditors of the company, plan to retain an ownership stake in the restructured business, Mr. Salkovitz said in an interview Friday with The Wall Street Journal.
“This is strictly a financial restructuring. Our operations are sound,” said Mr. Salkovitz, the company’s chairman.
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Subscribe NowChristmas Tree Shops filed for bankruptcy with a $45 million loan, including roughly $20 million in fresh capital, from its lenders to finance it through chapter 11, Mr. Salkovitz said. The loan is subject to bankruptcy court approval.
If approved, the loans provided by Eclipse Business Capital and ReStore Capital will fund business obligations, including paying employees and ordering goods and services during the chapter 11 process, the company said.
The Salkovitzs acquired the chain from Bed Bath & Beyond in 2020. Rising consumer prices crimped budgets for the Christmas Tree Shops’ core customers over the past year, Mr. Salkovitz said.
“When the Ukraine war hit, the inflationary pressures had a massive impact on our consumer,” Mr. Salkovitz said
Some of the Christmas Tree Shops leases are subleased from Bed Bath & Beyond, which filed for bankruptcy last month. As a result, the Christmas Tree Shops will have to negotiate those leases directly with landlords for the first time, Mr. Salkovitz also said. Chapter 11 gives companies a stronger hand in negotiating leases.
Retailers that file for bankruptcy often end up in liquidation. Bed Bath & Beyond and David’s Bridal, which also filed for bankruptcy this year, have said they would shutter all their stores if they can’t find buyers. Housewares chain Tuesday Morning recently said it would liquidate all of its stores in bankruptcy.
Write to Soma Biswas at [email protected]
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