Want a real Christmas tree? With supplies down and prices up, here’s what to do now
Find yourself dipping deeper into your pocket to bring home the traditional real Christmas tree this season? If you can even find one, that is?
You’re not imagining the sticker price change or the thinner stock. Real Christmas trees are more costly this year, up about 10% nationally, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, Today reported.
Blame it partly on ripple effects from the 2008 Great Recession that cut demand for trees as people reined in holiday spending, UPI reported.
This decade-old spending cutback meant fewer trees were planted — and it can take from seven to 10 years for several varieties, like the Fraser Fir, to grow to a desired height, Tim O’Connor, the executive director of the National Christmas Tree Association, told Today.
Hotter weather and even too much rain have been cited as other factors in making it harder for retailers to stock as many trees.
Where Christmas trees are grown
Miami retailers are also having to boost the cost a bit because it’s costing them more to get trees onto their lots and storefronts.
Christmas trees are not grown in Florida, which receives most of them from North Carolina. The other tree-growing states that supply most of the nation’s trees include Michigan, Missouri and Oregon.
Some enterprising folks have even had to look outside of North Carolina to stock up on trees for this season.
Take Jim Basi, manager at Bella Christmas Trees in Aventura. “I spent the summer traveling looking for trees,” he said.
Basi had to. The two farms he had done business with for years in North Carolina came up short. He found three farmers in upstate New York that don’t usually wholesale trees and locked in a deal for the next year so Bella could have a supply of trees to meet demand.
“I’ve felt it the last couple years,” Basi said of the recession’s effect on tree supplies. “The shortage has more effected the quality of trees this year.”
His shipping costs are greater from New York than they were from North Carolina so that means a bump in prices about $20 to $25 per tree, he said. Depending on the size and quality of the tree you could be looking at a range including prices between $80 and $125 for a good fir.
Basi’s advice?
Buy now if you want a real tree
If you want a real tree for this Christmas you’d better act fast.
“Most places, like your average tree lots or the Home Depots, and a lot of people, will come up short,” Basi said. “They might not have inventory by the 15th of the month. I think most places will have a thin inventory by the middle of the month.”
For instance, prices are up about $5 to $10 apiece for the most popular 7- to-8-feet high Fraser Fir varieties at Jack’s Christmas Trees in Miami-Dade, according to owner Jonathan Card.
Jack’s Christmas Trees is a 50-plus-year fixture in South Florida during the holiday season on lots in Tamiami in South Miami-Dade and Miami Gardens in North Miami-Dade.
The price range for a Fraser fir at Jack’s can run from about $55 to $65 for the six-foot to eight-foot trees. These are generally the most popular sizes because they fit most homes, although families whose homes have higher ceilings can opt for a taller tree.
Prices can go up from the $55-$65 range depending on the fullness of the tree and the size, reaching a range of $65 to $85 or $90 to $95 for a big, full one, like a 10- to-12-foot tree at Jack’s, Card said.
Nationwide tree prices rise
According to Square sales data, the bump in prices isn’t a 2019 phenomena. Christmas tree prices increased 23% from 2015 to 2018, with the average price rising from $62 to $76. Last season prices increased 5%.
Fraser firs are favored for their dark green and silver needs and sturdy, upturned branches that hold ornaments well, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, which ranked the Fraser fir as the third most popular variety. Frasers can also last up to six weeks, longer than the top ranked Balsam fir, which people like for their commanding fragrance.
Jack’s Christmas Trees also has a few Nordmann firs, Card said, though these aren’t in demand like the Frasers. These trees have fans who like its softer needles and resistance to shedding. Nordmannn firs have long been popular in Europe but are gaining traction in the United States, according to Holiday Tree Farms in Oregon.
The National Christmas Tree Association says the shortage isn’t quite so severe that families who want a real tree will go home empty-handed — or with an artificial tree, instead.
But you still should not procrastinate because locally supplies aren’t what they used to be post-Thanksgiving as Christmas Eve approaches.
“There have been issues getting trees. Demand has been really high,” Card said. “As soon as I get bigger trees they go fast. But I’m still able to get a decent amount of trees so far.”
Places to find trees
Trip Savvy recently ranked Jack’s atop its list as one of the best places in Miami to shop for a real tree. The site also singled out Bella Christmas Trees on Biscayne Boulevard in Aventura, Holiday Sales’ two locations in Cutler Bay and Kendall, and Firefighters Christmas Trees, run for 30 years by the Coral Gables Firefighters Benevolent Association on Granada Boulevard.
Supermarkets like Publix and Winn-Dixie and appliance/tool/garden stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot, and Boys and Girls Clubs around Florida also sell fresh Christmas trees. A six- to seven-foot Fraser fir at Lowe’s is about $55, according to its website.
