Christmas Tree Shops warned state labor boards that 232 Massachusetts workers will be laid off by the end of August.
The layoffs began on Friday, July 7, according to a WARN — Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice released Friday by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
The chain will close all 70 of its remaining locations, 14 of which are in Massachusetts, including one in Holyoke.
The company announced the status of the layoffs on June 30, but after the close of business.
Christmas Tree Shops, a 53-year-old chain founded on Cape Cod and now headquartered in Middleboro, lost bankruptcy funding last week and news of its impending demise broke on Monday.
In a bankruptcy filing, the chain said on Thursday that it would no longer accept gift cards from July 21.
In the Massachusetts filing, the number of employees is not broken down by location. However, similar filings with New Jersey labor authorities list between 30 and 60 employees per location.
The Holyoke Crossing store opened in 2021 and was the first Christmas Tree Shops to feature a new look and name – CTS, with the words “Christmas Tree Shops” in smaller type – and a new merchandising plan the owners hoped would bring he would let the company grow.
By filing a WARN in Massachusetts, Christmas Tree Shops enlists the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or MassHire Department of Career Services Rapid Response Team, which can help workers who lose their jobs to start looking for a new one get a job or find out if they are eligible for retraining or other benefits.
www.masslive.com
https://www.masslive.com/news/2023/07/christmas-tree-shops-warns-of-232-massachusetts-layoffs-starting-now.html
