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How did Christmas Tree Shops get its iconic thatched roof and windmill?
Christmas Tree Shops was the “It-girl” of bargain stores. Here's why its legacy endures across New England.
Anthony Sammarco was in JOANN Fabric’s in Hyannis recently, shopping for a few Christmas decorations, when he heard the bells ringing from the Victorian carillon towering over the now-shuttered Christmas Tree Shops plaza.
In a true Proustian moment, the clanging of the bells brought back memories of scouring aisles for tchotchkes and treasures at the famed bargain chain, and he couldn’t help but remark: “My goodness, they’re greeting me!” Sammarco said of the bells.
Sammarco is a local historian, author, and lecturer who has penned over 60 books (yes, really) on Boston. In January, he will release his latest, “The Christmas Tree Shops: Don’t You Just Love A Bargain?” In the book, Sammarco chronicles the rise, fall, and legacy of the 53-year-old institution, and why it became an icon in New England and beyond.
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“They weren’t cookie cutter. They had an aura of attraction and an aura of welcome that people just loved,” Sammarco said in an interview with Boston.com.
It’s been a year-and-a-half since Christmas Tree Shops shuttered all of its stores in Massachusetts and across the country after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Before their closure, the stores sold everything from toys to candy to kitsch and plenty of bric-a-brac in between.
While the business no longer exists, the unique buildings remain, and so too do the memories of – and mourning for – Saturdays spent strolling the aisles for your next great find.
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“When I was a child in the early ’80s, my mom and I would make a stop at the original store every summer on our way to vacation on the Cape. Dad wasn’t interested, so it was just our ‘thing,’” Boston.com reader Karen M. from Framingham said when we asked for favorite Christmas Tree Shops memories. “[It is] one of my favorite memories of my mom. We would make a day of it, go[ing] shopping for silly trinkets and souvenirs,” she added.
Christmas Tree Shops was the “It-girl” of bargain stores, exuding a certain Je ne sais quoi that has remained in New England’s cultural consciousness long since their demise.
Sammarco knew he had to tell their story; if not to satisfy his own penchant for remembering, then for the New Englanders who would grow up without Christmas Tree Shops.
“There’s something about them. They were such a pleasant memory from the past. They had to be preserved,” he said. “If you don’t write these things, young people are never going to know about [Christmas Tree Shops] and the joy they brought us.”
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Why did we love them so much? And why do we still miss them, mourn them? Is it nostalgia? The unique architecture? The affordability and range of the goods? The catchy slogan? Simply, the experience altogether? Correct answer: All of the above.
“I can’t remember what I bought, but I do remember the experience,” Boston.com reader Athena E. said. “It was like walking into a closet full of surprise treasures,” she added.
‘What could be more different than a thatched roof for a store?‘
In 1970, Charles (“Chuck”) and Doreen Bilezikian bought Christmas Tree Shops and expanded it over the next three decades, opening 24 more locations in New England and New York.
The Bilezikians owned Christmas Tree Shops until 2003, when they sold the business to Bed Bath & Beyond for approximately $200 million. Bed Bath & Beyond, which itself filed for bankruptcy in 2023, sold Christmas Tree Shops to the Middleborough-based Handhil Holdings LLC in November 2020 for an undisclosed amount of money.
Part of the Bilezikian’s business plan included making the stores stand out architecturally from other big box retailers, Doreen Bilezikian told Boston.com in an interview.
“Chuck’s idea at that time was that there were a lot of big box retailers that were just brick on three sides and plate glass on one side. And he didn’t like that look. He wanted to develop architecture that blended in with the community,” she said.
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What was the result? Architecture that was unforgettable (and that quite literally broke world records).
The unofficial flagship Christmas Tree Shops in Bourne had the world’s largest thatched roof, measuring 24,000 square feet. The roof was installed in 1986 by three Irish brothers, after Chuck Belizikian was inspired by the thatched roofs at the Plymouth Plantation, Doreen Bilezikian said.
“[The architectural choices] were to make you a little bit different from the other retailers, and it made us a lot different from the other retailers,” she said. “What could be more different than a thatched roof for a store?”
The Bourne location off of the Sagamore Bridge became “an icon of Cape Cod,” according to Sammarco. It was not just a unique building, but also an attraction for the community.
“Each of these buildings wasn’t just something that housed bargains and a panoply of different things that people might purchase, but it was also a joy to actually look at the buildings as well,” he said.
The Hyannis and Orleans stores are prime examples of this ethos; the former was built as a Victorian plaza (“It looked like this enormous wedding confection,” Sammarco said) with a glockenspiel and carillion, and the latter as a sea captain’s mansion.
“[Christmas Tree Shops] was circumventing the aspect of the 1970s strip mall into something that would be remembered,” Sammarco said.
What’s next for Christmas Tree Shops sites?
Even though new retailers like Ace Hardware, Spirit Halloween, and Ocean State Job Lot have moved into many old Christmas Tree Shops sites, Sammarco doubts the new tenants will live up to the “sterling reputation” of their predecessor.
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“Ocean State Job Lot might be the ugly sister-successor to the Christmas Tree Shops, I don’t know. Will it become something that was iconic and a destination? I don’t think so,” Sammarco said.
While Christmas Tree Shops are no more, they remain part of New England’s collective memory. Driving over the Sagamore Bridge, Sammarco said he can’t help but look over at the windmill and sprawling thatched roof and remember.
“There is a lot of nostalgia about Christmas Tree Shops, even in today’s world,” Doreen Bilezikian said. “There isn’t anyone who does not have a fond, pleasant memory of Christmas Tree Shops,” she said.
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