Saturday was the last day Christmas Tree Shops was going to be open. So a half hour before closing forever, I visited the Shrewsbury location one last time. I didn’t expect to find anything but remarkably, I walked out fifteen minutes after I went in with ten items in my possession. All Christmas items. I spent a whopping $3.00 for everything.

The manager was trying to push the sale of five carts filled with merchandise. For ten bucks you could buy a cart filled with allegedly $500 worth of stuff. But you weren’t allowed to go through the carts. You could just look at the stuff. Kind of like a mega grab bag. I looked at one of the carts and pondered. Then I saw Christmas socks with the name “Harry” on them and realized as tempting as it was to buy one or even all the carts, I’d be stuck getting rid of most of it. Because I don’t know anyone named Harry.

It’s sad to see this iconic store go. My fondest memories will always be of shopping there in the wee hours of Black Friday morning, getting there before 9 a.m. to save 20% off my entire purchase. And using gift cards I had saved up from Christmas to pay for everything. Black Friday was usually the only day I shopped there.

At least I will always have the many large tote bags I purchased from there, along with the many other momentos I’ve accumulated over the years.

Here’s to all the bargains. Thanks for everything, Christmas Tree Shops.