When Christmas rolls around, my wife puts out a very small tree and some stuffed ornaments we bought a few years ago at Target. That’s a pretty modest approach to decorating for the holidays compared to many of our neighbors.
At the house we just moved out of, some homes added tasteful lights, others opted for religious displays, and a few opted for a whole lot of inflatables. In some cases, the spending was significant, although many of the items were reused year after year.
Decorations are a small but meaningful part of holiday spending.
Americans planned to spend an average of $1,172 on travel, $632 on gifts, $351 on entertaining, and $227 on decorations, according to a BMO survey conducted before the 2024 holiday season.
Getting those items may be more of a challenge this year, as Gordon Companies, which runs a number of Christmas-themed websites and lists Target, Kohl’s, Home Depot, Walmart, Amazon, Lowe’s, and Michaels as retail partners, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
More details emerge on Gordon Companies Chapter 11
When TheStreet first covered this story on Sept. 15, few details had been released about the filing. Now, it appears that at least some of the retailer’s problems are related to a failed effort to implement a new inventory and order management system.
“Earlier this month, Gordon filed an amended complaint in the same court district against Vision33, a SAP reseller and implementation partner, alleging it paid the vendor more than $2 million for an ordering and warehouse operations system that “never performed the function for which it was bought,” according to Retail Dive.
Vision33 did not immediately respond to Retail Dive’s request for comment on the claims.
The legal complaint details Gordon Companies’ struggles with the system, and contends that this was not a normal case of software failure.
“This case is not about a vendor that fell short of a demanding specification. It is about a vendor that knew, in writing and from its own personnel, the volume its client had to process; that designed and sized an environment it knew could not process that volume,” the complaint contends.
It’s a situation that had direct financial impact on the company.
“Because Gordon could not fulfill orders at the rate its sales channels required, Gordon was forced to suspend selling on certain marketplace channels, and at least one major retail partner, Target, imposed a one-week shipping delay on Gordon’s listings,” Gordon said in its amended complaint.
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While you may not know the brand name, Gordon Companies has a long history.
“Gordon Companies Inc. has been family-owned and operated for nearly 50 years. We are experts in quality Christmas, holiday and seasonal decorations,” the company shared on its website.
The company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 14, owns a number of brands.
- Christmas Central: An e-commerce marketplace offering a large selection of Christmas decorations, home decor, outdoor furnishings, and accessories.
- The Christmas.com e-commerce marketplace featuring hundreds of sellers from around the United States for Christmas and holiday decor and gifts.
- From artificial Christmas trees and accessories to lights and decorations for holidays throughout the year, Northlight features Christmas and holiday decor for all seasons.
- Pool Central offers a deep stock of equipment and accessories for your pool, spa, and outdoor space.
The company reported $10 million to $50 million in both assets and liabilities. The filing indicates that there will be funds available for distribution to unsecured creditors. The case number is 26-11242, according to Bondoro.
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Christmas only happens once a year
RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino thinks that Christmas presents challenges for retailers who make most of their income for the holiday.
“Selling Christmas trees is an eight-week cash grab disguised as a full-time business,” he told TheStreet.
That, he noted, is a risky strategy.
“You buy inventory and pay shipping months in advance, burning cash while sitting on empty warehouses all summer. If freight rates spike or last year’s stock doesn’t sell, you run out of money right before the orders start rolling in,” he added.
Having formerly run a very large independent toy store, there’s a clear seasonality to that business. Yes, people buy toys, games, dollhouses, and radio-controlled cars, trucks, planes, and helicopters year-round, but we had days during the Christmas season where the sales volume was higher than some full months.
If we made a mistake — for example, by not having enough inventory in stock, that could derail the business for the next year. In a fast-moving sales season, we learned that if we had to close for snow, whatever sales we expected to do that day would only be made up about 50% over the next few days.
A missed sales opportunity was likely a sale that went elsewhere, and that’s a risk facing Gordon Companies.
Gordon Companies runs a Chapter 11 risk
Aside from mentioning Target in the complaint, Gordon Companies has not shared whether it expects any problems from its other vendors or meeting orders placed on its own websites, which are still operational.
Kenneth Rosen, who leads the bankruptcy department at Lowenstein Sandler, wrote that companies that sell to big-box vendors should worry about the message sent by a Chapter 11 filing.
“The mass merchant, big box retailer or supermarket chain has little patience if its reputation is at risk due to problems suffered by a vendor,” he wrote.
There are multiple reasons, he shared, why even a long-term big-box retail partner might stop ordering from a vendor who files Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“Major retailers plan out their programs and promotions well in advance. Items selected for newspaper advertisements or seasonal promotions are chosen far ahead of delivery. A retailer does not want to risk promoting a product and then learning at the 11th hour that the debtor cannot deliver — leaving the retailer with a lot of explaining to do to customers and scurrying to find a suitable substitute,” he added.
Shoppers who buy Gordon Companies products through major retailers are not likely to see much impact. Those chains can switch suppliers, and Rosen’s point is that they usually do. The selection may change, but the shelves won’t be empty.
People ordering directly from a Gordon Companies website are taking on more risk.
Companies in Chapter 11 generally keep operating and shipping orders, and Gordon’s sites are still taking them. But if an order goes unfilled, a refund can get caught up in the bankruptcy process.
The simple protection is to pay with a credit card, which lets you dispute a charge for an item that never arrives.
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Gordon Companies’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy at a glance:
- Estimated Creditors: Between 200 and 999
- Filing Date: Sept. 14, 2026
- Court and Jurisdiction: U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York
- Type of Filing: Active, Voluntary Petition
- Case Number: 1-26-11242
- Estimated Assets: Between $10,000,001 and $50 million
- Estimated Liabilities: Between $10,000,001 and $50 million
Gordon Companies has not commented on its Chapter 11 filing, and it is not the same company as Gordon Brothers, a company that helps struggling companies sell distressed assets.
The company did not return a request for comment sent to its media inquiries email.
Gordon Companies’ websites are currently still taking orders.
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