Christmas Tree Shops warns of 232 layoffs in Massachusetts starting now

Christmas Tree Shops warned state labor leaders that it will lay off 232 workers in Massachusetts between now and the end of August.

The layoffs began on Friday the 7th. July, according to a notice – Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice posted Friday by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

The chain will close all 70 remaining locations, 14 of them in Massachusetts including one in Holyoke.

The company told the state of the layoffs on June 30, but after the business had ended.

Christmas Tree Shops, a 53-year-old chain founded on Cape Cod and now headquartered in Middleboro, lost bankruptcy financing last week and news of its impending demise broke Monday.

On Thursday, in a bankruptcy filing, the chain said it will stop accepting gift cards on July 21[ads1].

The Massachusetts Archives does not break down the number of employees by location. But similar filings with New Jersey labor officials listed between 30 and 60 employees per location.

The Holyoke Crossing store opened in 2021 and was the first Christmas tree shops with a new look and a new name — CTS, with the words Christmas Tree Shops in smaller print — and a new merchandising plan that the owners hoped would expand the company.

By filing a WARN notice in Massachusetts, Christmas Tree Shops brings in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or MassHire Department of Career Services’ Rapid Response Team who can help workers who lose their jobs begin searching for new jobs or learn if they qualify for retraining or other benefits.