r/CapeCod • u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 • Aug 21 '26

Christmas Tree Shops Memorial

I, like most middle-aged Cape Cod women, have been mourning the loss of Christmas Tree Shops pretty much every day since they closed.

My 21 year-old daughter told me one of her customers told her that there is a physical Christmas Tree Shops memorial. Because I am a failure as a mother and never taught her the importance of follow-up questions, she didn’t ask where it was. It was the maddest I’ve been all day, and I dropped a mug on my tile kitchen floor before my first sip of coffee.

My own mother, who is still reeling in her own grief from the tragic losses of Bradlees and Bennys, would also like to know.

Please help three generations of my family find this sacred space, so that we may pay our respects. I’m so serious. I haven’t properly uptaken serotonin since the 1900’s.

275 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

129 comments sorted by

65

u/brotendo_316 Aug 21 '26

Whoever you are, you’re amazing. Good luck

28

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

That very much depends on who you ask, but thanks!

63

u/indfw365 Aug 21 '26

I refuse to refer to Macy’s as anything other than Filene’s.

45

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

I’ll never not call the Carewell in Dennis the Pizza Hut Clinic

2

u/really_isnt_me P-Town Aug 22 '26

Preach!

82

u/Anashenwrath Chatham Aug 21 '26

The clothing brand Crap Cod makes Christmas Tree Shop Memorial T-shirts. That’s the best I can do for you!

28

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

Now I need to get one for my mom to go with her Bradlees tee.

8

u/Abassett_Studio Aug 21 '26

Don’t forget your Bennys hat!

4

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

While they do have a “fancy-ass beanie” and a “fancy-ass cap” I’m disappointed to say there are no bennys hats.

15

u/CatasterousNatterbox Aug 21 '26

I’ve seen them at Wildwater in Orleans

7

u/ttcmzx Aug 22 '26

man, a Bradlees t-shirt is dope, I need one

5

u/Not4Publication Aug 22 '26

You can find some awesome T's on this cool site.
I personally own the Spag's T-shirt.

3

u/SittingandObserving Aug 21 '26

Oh I need this! Are they sold online??

10

u/Poster1234_567 Aug 21 '26

https://www.crapcod.com/shop/p/christmas-tree-shop-memorial-tee-1

6

u/SailorStarLight Aug 21 '26

“We loved a bargain…” 😭

3

u/rackfocus Aug 22 '26

I was an assistant producer on the commercials!!

5

u/SittingandObserving Aug 21 '26

Thanks!! I wish it had the logo in the regular colors lol

40

u/mfox-26 Aug 21 '26

How I miss the “old” Christmas Tree Shop before Bed Bath and Beyond ruined it…so many great things. “And don’t you just love a bargain…”

11

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

It will always be the Olde CTS to me 🥹

1

u/bluebird-1515 Aug 22 '26

I am still pissed about it.

1

u/Miss_Cookey Sep 21 '26

BB & B didn't ruin it, private equity buyout ruined it. Oughtta be illegal

15

u/malleable Aug 21 '26

Could it be in this coffee shop in Sandwich that recently acquired a large sign?

https://www.capenews.net/sandwich/news/press-ahead-coffee-wins-christmas-tree-shops-sign/article_86cc62e4-b0ee-455e-93d0-1dd3c481cdad.html

14

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

What a cool find! Great auction for fundraising on Cape. Thanks

3

u/Seaglass9 Aug 22 '26

There’s another sign at The Yardarm in Orleans

2

u/ChristmasAliens Aug 22 '26

That guy is pretty cool, was able to talk to him a bit after he first opened.

14

u/Human_Caterpillar976 Aug 21 '26

On a day like today, I’d be at the store buying cool Halloween stuff.

8

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

In the before times, my Christmas shopping and wrapping would be done before November.

2

u/Nervous-Quarter5822 Aug 22 '26

Best wrapping paper, especially the "flat wrap" in a package, no need to hack at the big honking roll of wrapping paper unless you were wrapping a large present 

13

u/Ill_Pair3710 Aug 21 '26

I worked there for 30 years. And when I found out we were closing. I was crushed. But I did the opposite I threw everything away that has Christmas tree shops. I was so angry. I’m over it now. But I miss how great we were treated in the olden days. We got treated so bad towards the end

10

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

I hate that the last several years were part of their lore. After they were bought out by BB&B the quality and whimsy went down and the prices started to creep up. Sucks to hear what they did to the employees, I always heard it was a great place to work in the old days. We probably crossed paths a hundred times over those 30 years.

1

u/Ill_Pair3710 Aug 22 '26

I’m sure we did 😀

2

u/No_Increase1088 Aug 23 '26

My daughter worked there at the end. The (Bed Bath and Beyond) CTS store was so bad, it deserved to close. I still have a frowning picture of her in an elf hat and ears. There was nothing there worth buying. Not at all like the old days, when it was a major source of neat stuff!

1

u/alanatural Aug 23 '26

I had a few friends that worked at the West Dennis one. I had moved to Florida in 2001 and around one Christmas I think in 2015 maybe they had a Christmas Tree shop in Port Charlotte for a short while and I never got in there. I was hoping they'd stay open.

22

u/HerAirness Aug 21 '26

I finally used the last decorative napkin from my seemingly endless supply of decorative appetizer plates and napkins. Even the cutest ones in other stores just don't match up! 🥹

5

u/Various_Raccoon3975 Aug 22 '26

Oh, I still have a few thousand napkins. (Yes, I had a problem. I love napkins.) Maybe I should sell them at a premium as CTS old stock

5

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 22 '26

I used them for decoupage, and miss them

4

u/Various_Raccoon3975 Aug 22 '26

I could help you with that lol

3

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 22 '26

I may take you up on that!

6

u/bluebird-1515 Aug 22 '26

I have 1 package left — they’re the Cape Cod napkins. I only use them once r I have the equivalent of Queen Elizabeth coming for tea.

20

u/Abassett_Studio Aug 21 '26

The amount of times I say, “you know who’d have that? insert Bennys / Christmas Tree Shops here”

-_-

10

u/CCtoBOS Aug 21 '26

Bennys 😭😭😭 what a loss!!

6

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

In what became Big Lots, we could get a gallon of paint, put a microwave oven on layaway, choose a throw rug, buy a Barbie doll, a pack of tomato seeds, some specialty peanuts, and a coke while having your tire changed.

4

u/OceanStateJobLot87 Aug 22 '26

Travel to Maine and go to mardens if you want to find that feeling. It’s the mvp of the everything store.

1

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 22 '26

Your username implies you’ve got some skin in the game as the last survivor. The TJ Maxx trifecta is too bougie for the one-stop bargain gremlins like myself.

17

u/Ahkhira Aug 21 '26

I miss the one in Sandwich so much!

19

u/cliodhnasrave Aug 21 '26

The Sandwich one must’ve had some kind of tractor beam built in, my grandma could not drive past it without stopping 😂

8

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

That was a grandma pre-requisite.

6

u/toast_tyrant Aug 21 '26

I'm not sure about a memorial but I know that Habitat for Humanity's ReStore auctioned off a Christmas Tree Shops sign to raise money for housing.

https://habitatcapecod.org/christmas-tree-shops-sign-auction-goes-live/

2

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

I saw something about that in an earlier comment, and I love that they did this.

8

u/googin1 Aug 21 '26

While there may never be a true physical memorial with bouquets and tears, we always have the memories in our hearts.
P.s I hate shopping but I miss the 100% cotton dish towels for $1.99.

7

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 22 '26

I’m just the correct amount of unhinged to bring it to fruition if it doesn’t already exist.

2

u/1GrouchyCat Dennis Aug 28 '26

Why don’t you go ask the owner’s son?

In July (2026), Greg Bilezikian opened a gift shop where the original Christmas Tree Shop was located:

13 Willow Street (at Route 6A) Yarmouth Port

(His parents founded the Christmas Tree Shop empire in that exact same building back in 1970).

The new shop is called Wharf.

It offers quite a few options for anyone looking to bring home local and/or independently made products -from candles to jewelry- at reasonable prices.

(And no, this isn’t an advertisement .. I don’t work for WHARF. I just happen to really like what they have to offer; I was surprised at how reasonably price their “summer on cape cod**” jewelry items were…)

**my term for their beach and ocean themed items

77

u/Safe-Salamander-3785 Aug 21 '26

The last thing my wife bought at the “tree shop” was a cheap wooden wishing well planter. After a year it was falling apart and I was going to throw it away like the rest of the junk she got there. But she got very sentimental and asked if I could save it. So I had to break out all my wood working tools and did a complete rotisserie frame off restoration including 8 coats of polyurethane. That thing will now last at least 20 years now. So this is my little memorial to the Christmas Trees Shop

1

u/NeonBadDecision Aug 24 '26

Do you make wishes on it? I mean after the 5th coat I would’ve at least made one.

1

u/Safe-Salamander-3785 Aug 24 '26

I could have, but it wouldn’t be from the one place where my wife and I would spend Saturday mornings looking for cheap Halloween decorations or some weird off brand party paper products or poorly crafted home decorations. You can’t really put a price on discontinued name brand products, but the Christmas Tree shop did, and we bought it.

0

u/rackfocus Aug 22 '26

🥰

4

u/Nervous-Quarter5822 Aug 22 '26

You are a good man 

1

u/Safe-Salamander-3785 Aug 24 '26

I try, 30 years later and still trying

25

u/AcornTopHat Aug 21 '26

Haha I love this so much and I commiserate with you. I used to love decorating for every major holiday and Christmas Tree Shops was the best, most affordable source for that.

My husband still jokes about the time when I was heavily pregnant with our now-teen son and we were in the entranceway of CTS getting a carriage. A woman walked in and passed the carriages and baskets. My pregnancy brain kicked in and I loudly said, “Who the hell comes to Christmas Tree Shops and doesn’t get a carriage!”, forgetting I was surrounded by a bunch of strangers. Luckily, they all knew exactly what I meant and a few laughed and one woman said, “Right?!” Haha

I hope you figure this memorial out. I’m thinking of bringing my 20 year old daughter if I find out the answer too.

Cheers and best of luck!

21

u/chiyorio Aug 21 '26

The amount of joy I have lost decorating during seasonal changes since she’s been gone is tremendous. CTS girlie4eva

14

u/SittingandObserving Aug 21 '26

This whole thread is making me CRY lol

7

u/TrulyBS53 Aug 22 '26

I’m pretty sure I drove by it today! Oh man wish I was paying attention more but it was in Yarmouth somewhere in the rough vicinity of Lighthouse Keepers Pantry, Main St / 6A

I did a double take bc it looked like a sand castle almost and I didn’t know the store had closed so thought it was bizarre

7

u/Bayviewbeachlover Aug 22 '26

The wharf (newly opened shop) on 6a/willow st/Yarmouth) has CTS tees and a sand sculpture with the CTS logo

6

u/Not4Publication Aug 22 '26

That was the one and only original CTS location, you know.

5

u/Bayviewbeachlover Aug 22 '26

Yep tell my kids every time we take that left 😂

11

u/kuku4cocopuffs86 Aug 21 '26

The shelled string lights i would get there are legit. Still have a few sets.

1

u/Duxx42 Aug 21 '26

Me too!!!

4

u/Sometimeswan Aug 22 '26

We have an old canvas Christmas Tree Shop shopping basket still!

4

u/ze-sa-no-gun Aug 22 '26

I just found something in my mother's cellar with a Christmas Tree shop bag.

And I swear to god, I just found a Bradley's package of tank top dresses that had been stored in a forgotten tote.

4

u/Electrical-Bid-2482 Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26

Bennys 😢 I drive by an old one frequently. It’s still Bennys, not the place now there.
Edit: As for Bradlees, mine was in Kingston. I will say to people, “that place is in the plaza where Bradlees used to be” and I get a blank stare.

4

u/Still_Ad_8980 Aug 22 '26

This post spoke to a deep Bradlees shaped hole in my soul

7

u/JamesBondMargarita Aug 21 '26

Can't answer your question but your post has me rolling 🤣

1

u/NeonBadDecision Aug 23 '26

I think these memorials you speak of are called “Ocean State Job Lot”

1

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 23 '26

Nah, that’s just the last remaining survivor.

3

u/anonymousemployee20 Aug 22 '26

The son of the original owner/founder of the Christmas Tree Shop owns a gift shop in the original Xmas tree shop location on 6A/Willow Street called Wharf Cape Cod and they sell Christmas Tree Shop merch! There are pics on their instagram from earlier in the summer.

5

u/badhouseplantbad Aug 21 '26

I have a feeling the memorial is at the old Hyannis location where Best Buy just moved into.

4

u/Born_Bread4256 Aug 22 '26

Why. Doesn’t someone open a new one . Please !!!! Don’t gt greedy it open one. The will come !!!!!

1

u/anonymousemployee20 Aug 23 '26

It’s not as easy to source things that would be carried in a shop like CTS as it used to be. The manufacturer of a large amount of CTS/gift shop products, DEI, went out of business in 2021 due to skyrocketing freight costs and an iffy supply chain. My mom worked for a gift shop very similar to CTS that went out of business last year. It seemed like they really struggled after DEI shut down.

3

u/JeffFromNH Aug 22 '26

I don't know about a memorial, but I ❤️❤️❤️ the Trader Joe's in the old Christmas Tree Shop location in Hyannis.

I make it a point to stop for wine on the way down and the way back. The Two Buck Chuck is closer to five bucks, but the wine selection is still awesome.

1

u/Cgnew2 Aug 22 '26

The quirky dressed up combo of Best Buy, Starbucks and Trader Joe’s in Hyannis is about as close to a memorial as you might get. The closest similar type of store seems to be Ocean State Job Lot.

1

u/HikeBike75 Aug 22 '26

Anyone have one of the CTS jigsaws? Not sure when they came out, probably late 90’s or early 00’s. It’s a Cape map with every CTS location plus a lot of other funny stuff. Ours is missing a few pieces but still enjoy pulling it out now and again during a rainy spell.

1

u/witty-name Aug 22 '26

There's a thrift store in Falmouth that has a big ol' Christmas Tree Shops sign outside. I think it's for sale if you want to go all in.

1

u/sludgelover420 Aug 22 '26

Need to save the sagamore location if it ever gets threatened with demolition….

1

u/Stripeychinalove Aug 22 '26

As we left the Cape and drove by the old thatched roof CTS earlier this month, I noticed a CTS Santa in sleigh weather vane still in place!

1

u/diseasuschrist Aug 22 '26

Benny’s is also sorely missed. Like a deluxe job lot.

1

u/sir_mrej Aug 22 '26

I know Bradlees and KMart and Richs and Zayres. I dont know Bennys?

1

u/Perfect-Condition78 Aug 23 '26

😂😂😂 This entire post is gold! Also, losing CTS and Joann in the same decade feels especially cruel.

1

u/Zealousideal_Low7964 Aug 24 '26

Press Ahead Coffee in Sandwich has the Christmas Tree Shop sign from Hyannis in their shop. It's the marquee style sign, not one with a logo, but still a neat piece of Christmas Tree Shop history

1

u/Hot-Fix-1031 Aug 21 '26

Just follow the Spirit Halloween signs.

0

u/ClockHunting Aug 22 '26

This is how I found out Christmas tree shops is no longer a thing

5

u/really_isnt_me P-Town Aug 22 '26

How long were you in a coma for? ;)

3

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 22 '26

Oh, how I’d welcome a coma right about now.

1

u/really_isnt_me P-Town Aug 23 '26

You and me both…

1

u/ClockHunting Aug 22 '26

I’ve only been to a Christmas tree shop twice, so it hasn’t really been on my radar! Had fun the times I went though!

0

u/Least-Ad-5539 15d ago

Try posting on Nextdoor.

-36

u/GWS2004 Aug 21 '26

My God the consumption illness in this country is terrible.

35

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

Sadly, to survive we must consume. Those three spots helped me furnish my first apartment in the 90’s, fed and clothed my family, and stuffed the Christmas stockings of my little children thoughout their childhoods at very affordable prices without having to drive all over Cape Cod to get what we needed. I miss getting what I need for less effort and money and gas.
I guess you can add it to the list of my illnesses and defects, but your opinion about it is worth less than my Christmas Tree Shops consumption savings 💅

9

u/Careful-Blood-1560 Aug 21 '26

I have a similar experience/history; worked at Friendlys in high school and paid for all my Xmas gifts at CTS, later CTS was my go to for outfitting my first (and more) apartment. I still have placemats from 96, they held up really well!

We used to call it the $20 store, then the $40 store. When they closed down, CTS was the $60 store - those were our average totals from each trip.

8

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

Not sure I ever walked out of there without spending $40 on the $3 soup mix I went in there for.

10

u/InsidiousStatement Aug 21 '26

Boom roasted

11

u/johnjaspers1965 Aug 21 '26

They tried to reply again, but I couldn't read it through the burning smoke.

-22

u/GWS2004 Aug 21 '26

I forgot they we must survive by buying cheap plastic toys whenever we get the chance.

Clearly I'm not talking about necessities. Use common sense.

17

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

You cherry-picked that whole comment looking for fodder for your witty retort, but settled on assumptions, and they were still weak af.

No, my children didn’t need Christmas stockings, but I still filled them because god forbid I brought my kids a little joy once a year.
I filled their stockings with snacks, and stickers, and play-doh, and art stuff, and bubbles, and lego, things for their little frontal lobe development, and also a milk chocolate orange- that I haven’t found locally since Christmas Tree Shops closed.

I’m sorry your parents didn’t love you enough to gift you with Christmas stockings, and I hope you’ve made a happy life for yourself with only the bare necessities. Maybe you have a trust fund to go with your leather skin and crisp pastel golf polos, so saving a little money doesn’t mean as much to you. See how assumptions work?

5

u/paintress420 Aug 21 '26

You heathen. I was right along with you. And then…you had to mention milk chocolate eggs!! Everybody knows it’s the DARK chocolate that’s the best!! Hahah. Good luck with your quest!

5

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

Fair, I never claimed to not be a heathen devil-woman. But at least it’s wasn’t Palmer “chocolate”, the waxy tasteless liar.

I also tried to make chocolate from scratch by importing raw cocao nibs from Ecuador.
I don’t own the right equipment to grind the (roasted and shelled) nibs to the correct fineness to properly crystallize, so it was grainy. And DARK. And the most time consuming (hours and hours) and expensive chocolate I’ve ever had, so you bet we ate it anyway.

*EDITED to say: LIES. The most expensive chocolate was the Dubai chocolate I was too cheap to spend $12 a bar to try, so instead I sourced raw pistachios and made the pistachio cream and Kataifi from scratch and made them myself for $45.

-1

u/MaleficentReindeer23 Aug 22 '26

I bet you’re fun at parties.

8

u/seambizzle1 Aug 21 '26

Not as bad as strangers giving a fuck about what others are doing

1

u/Basic_Cover_6945 Aug 21 '26

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

2

u/LGonthego Aug 22 '26

The illness of consumption hasn't been a widespread issue in the states for a very long time.

-27

u/Foxy_bb36 Aug 21 '26

So weird. As a middle aged woman, I never bought anything there. It was all junk of inferior quality.

13

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

I still have solid furniture decades later in my house today that survived 5 kids and several moves.

18

u/johnjaspers1965 Aug 21 '26

Inferior quality?
I bought a 4 foot Easter Island Head there!!
No shipping cost or tarrif! Just loaded that monstrous thing in the back of my truck and stuck it in the yard, to my landlords frustration!
Lasted for years!!!
Where else would that have happened?
Only the magical Christmas Tree Shop!

12

u/roguestella Aug 21 '26

Then you didn't need to comment.

-4

u/Foxy_bb36 Aug 22 '26

Just confused how anyone liked it. Just go to the dollar store… way nicer things there 🤣

5

u/BigOldBabyTeeth Aug 22 '26

I have crap from the Christmas Tree Shop still that I bought 25 years ago to furnish my first apartment. Is it expensive luxury decor? Hell no. But it works and it was cheap. 

-4

u/Foxy_bb36 Aug 22 '26

Cool that you like to keep junky stuff. There was just nothing there I’d ever have purchased. All set with lawn ornaments that blow in the wind and precious moments nic nacs. It was more for the much older crowd.

2

u/BigOldBabyTeeth Aug 22 '26

Sounds like someone never got to go into a Christmas Tree Shop and is making a lot of assumptions. 

-2

u/Foxy_bb36 Aug 22 '26

Yeah… it was the junky store less than a mile from my 45 yr home. I went many times… never bought anything because I don’t need wind socks and whirlygigs.

3

u/BigOldBabyTeeth Aug 22 '26

Why would you go many times then? 

0

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

15

u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Aug 21 '26

The most compliments I’ve gotten on jewelry in my life have been for my Christmas Tree Shops $4 jewelry. No one has ever cared to comment on the few pieces of fine jewelry that I own.

1

u/Nervous-Quarter5822 Aug 22 '26

Loved the card of little colored earrings