Christmas Tree Shops

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Christmas Tree Shops are a chain of stores that started in Yarmouthport, Massachusetts on Cape Cod as a complex of three small stores; the Front Shop, the Back Shop, and the Barn Shop. The multiple store location, located on Route 6A, explains why the name is Christmas Tree Shops instead of Christmas Tree Shop. Since the 1980s, the chain has slowly been expanding beyond Cape Cod. It now has stores in eight different states (mostly in New England), which have made it a multi-million dollar corporation, with large super-stores. The original stores are seen as a local phenomenon, since it has become a must see destination for many visitors when traveling to Cape Cod. Christmas Tree Shops was bought by Bed Bath and Beyond in 2003. The origianl stores on 6A were closed January of 2007. It marked the end of an era for many local residents.

1 Store concepts
2 Controversy
3 Distribution Center
4 External links

[edit] Store concepts

The Christmas Tree Shops store at the base of the Sagamore Bridge in Bourne, Massachusetts.

Christmas Tree Shops are bargain stores, selling everything from food to toys to household furnishings to, of course, Christmas decorations. Most stores are typically made to resemble older buildings, in Colonial, Victorian, or even Old English barn styles (such as the Bourne, Pembroke and Warwick, RI stores). Some, such as the Lynnfield, Massachusetts store, are even more conceptualized; that store is known for its lighthouse and fishing village motif.

[edit] Controversy

Nantucket Distributing was formed as a sister company to allow them to purchase products, or "knockoffs", at wholesale prices. These products were imported internationally from India and China.

Since Christmas Tree Shops was purchased by Bed Bath And Beyond it was initially thought that the business model's Customer relationship management would be corrupt. However, this has not yet been the case. Most of the significant long time corporate employees are still employed with good knowledge of their customer base.

[edit] Distribution Center

The distribution of all the stores is done at their sizable distribution center in Middleboro, MA. Prior to being moved to Middleboro, distribution was done from the former Cape Cod Coliseum, down the street from the corporate office in South Yarmouth.