The Christmas Tree Shops: Don't You Just Love a Bargain?

The Christmas Tree Shops, founded in 1970, became a beloved New England icon for unique bargains.

The Christmas Tree Shops was an icon of New England, with stores that offered a diverse assortment of merchandise from seasonal decorations, home decor, housewares, food and giftware, and just about everything else. Founded in 1970 by Chuck and Doreen Bilezikian, they opened their first shop on Route 6A at Willow Street in Yarmouth Port in a former grocery store. Over the next three decades, twenty-three stores were opened that not only had distinctive architecture but also became a destination for the public and offered items you never thought you needed before stepping through the door.

Despite the seasonal name, the Bilezikians sold unique, one-of-a-kind quality merchandise at bargain prices from closeouts and overruns, as well as small batches of baskets made in Eastern Europe, glass Christmas ornaments from Poland, and a plethora of intriguing merchandise. One customer described the stores as “like walking into a closet full of surprise treasures” and combined with great prices, they would coin their familiar catch phrase “Don’t You Just Love a Bargain?” Employees radiated a warm, positive attitude and were valued for their part in making the Christmas Tree Shops not just a special place to shop but a great success.

As Chuck and Doreen Bilezikian once said, “Together we grew a successful company and created many memories.” Indeed, there are many who fondly recall the thrill of finding a bargain at these iconic stores.

Anthony M. Sammarco is a noted historian and author of over seventy books on the history and development of Boston, and he lectures widely on the history of his native city. His books Lost Boston, The History of Howard Johnson's: How A Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became a Roadside Icon, Christmas Traditions in Boston, and The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History have been bestsellers.