The company behind a trio of Christmas decor brands has filed for bankruptcy.
Gordon Companies Inc., which owns e-commerce platforms Christmas Central, Christmas.com and Northlight, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, according to documents filed in New York court.
The filing means Gordon Companies will continue to operate but reorganize its debts to make them easier to pay off. Court records indicate the company owes $32.2 million to 458 creditors, including FedEx, UPS, Microsoft and Pepsi.
The company’s debt reorganization comes within a couple of months of what experts say will be the biggest holiday sales season in United States’ retail history.
Shoppers are projected to spend $1 trillion on holiday items this year, according to a recent study from management consulting firm Bain & Company.
Year-on-year sales are expected to rise 4.5 percent, Bain noted, even though consumers have endured a year of elevated inflation and persistently high gas prices.
Gordon Companies’ online competitors, Balsam Hill and The Christmas Palace, have launched early-bird sales on holiday decor. Spirit Christmas, the holiday version of Spirit Halloween, plans to open pop-up physical stores soon.
Major retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and Target are looking to capitalize on those projections by launching their holiday push in October.
Target has slated a two-day sale event on October 6 and 7 that will offer discounts of up to 40 percent on holiday decorations and popular gift ideas such as toys and tech.
Target will face competition from Amazon, which is running its Prime Big Deal Days on October 6 and 7. Prime members will get discounts of up to 35 percent across several shopping categories, including tech and toys.
Where will consumers get the money to cash in on these weekend sales? There’s a good chance they’ll have to dip into their savings to buy gifts and decorations, an August analysis from research firm IBISWorld found.
“Cracks are emerging as consumers dip into savings and shift spending toward essentials and away from discretionary purchases,” the firm said.
The average shopper is trying to avoid debt this holiday season, with the share of those saying they’ll carry debt into the new year falling by three percentage points compared to 2025, a September study from financial firm Morningstar found.
“After several years of elevated living costs, consumers may be reaching a point where adding more debt simply doesn't feel sustainable," Morningstar wrote.
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