33 Workers Laid Off From Christmas Tree Shops In Deptford

DEPTFORD, NJ — The looming end of Christmas Tree Shops will cost 33 people their jobs in the Deptford store.

In court filings earlier this month, Christmas Tree Shops said it would liquidate all stores. The home-goods chain plans to close all remaining locations by the end of August.

Christmas Tree Shops still had 10 New Jersey stores at the time. But since then, the human cost has become clearer, with the chain filing notices announcing 531 layoffs from those stores.

Nine of the stores remain open as of Monday: the locations in Brick, Cherry Hill, Deptford, Freehold, Mays Landing, Paramus, Rockaway, Springfield, and Woodland Park. Christmas Tree Shops in Bridgewater has shuttered.

Here are the layoff totals from each store, according to notices published by the New Jersey Department of Labor:

• Springfield: 143 employees
• Brick: 61
• Bridgewater: 40
• Cherry Hill: 37
• Deptford: 33
• Freehold: 51
• Mays Landing: 10
• Paramus: 48
• Rockaway: 40
• Woodland Park: 58

The precise timing for the remaining New Jersey stores' closures isn't clear, but locations have been shuttering quickly. The New England-headquartered company closed seven of its stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, CBS Boston reported Monday.

Christmas Tree Shops initially filed for bankruptcy in May following the collapse of its parent company, per Patch reporting.

In 1970, the first Christmas Tree Shops opened in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. New Jersey-based Bed Bath & Beyond acquired the chain in 2003 and opened stores in the Garden State three years later.

Bed Bath & Beyond, which declared bankruptcy in April, sold Christmas Tree Shops in November 2020 to Handil Holdings.

Christmas Tree Shops in Deptford is located at 1775 Deptford Center Rd.