Christmas tree costs: Tariffs on artificial trees could be advantage for fresh-cut sellers

Treetime Christmas Creations sells artificial trees that “are made custom to us,” allowing the business to incorporate customer feedback into its products, owner Laurie Kane says.

But Treetime, which sells online and from a showroom in Lake Barrington, has also had to incorporate higher costs and tariffs into its bottom line.

Kane said China “makes some of the best” artificial Christmas trees. However, this year, when the trees that were ordered in January arrived at port, the store was required to pay 30% tariffs on them.

Kane said that many people cut their orders because of the tariffs, and her store ordered 30% fewer trees as a result.

Treetime has noticed the impact of tariffs much more than inflation, Kane said. The store has accepted some of the price increase and hasn’t passed it all on to customers.

Yet despite that, “we’ve still seen strong demand for trees,” Kane said.

Kane is among the purveyors of artificial Christmas trees who say tariffs are having an impact on their costs this year. Conversely, farms that sell fresh trees and aren’t facing the same tariffs are reporting strong early sales.

People who want to bundle up and cut down their own trees this holiday season have a few options.

John Minalt, of Conifera Tree Farm near Harvard, says the farm has experienced a roughly 25% to 30% increase in demand since it opened for the season Nov. 23. He said that was a “great sign for us.”

Conifera is anticipated to be open until mid-December. Minalt said the supply of trees is “more than adequate,” and he hasn’t really been hit by tariffs.

Minalt said he hasn’t raised prices since the pandemic. But labor costs have gone up, and he’s anticipating prices will have to follow next year.

Ben’s Christmas Tree Farm near Harvard opened for the season Friday.

Owner Chris Czarnowski said the farm grows all the trees it sells. He said it’s a “long supply pipeline” for the Fraser firs in particular, which is the kind of tree most people want. A tree that’s about 7 to 8 feet tall can take about 10 to 12 years to grow.

Czarnowski’s father, Ben, started the farm in the early 1980s on a 50-acre property, and Czarnowski later bought another 50 adjacent acres.

Christmas trees are the only things they grow, without the use of herbicides or pesticides, a practice that Czarnowski said his father began.

He said you can plant several thousand trees per acre. But for every three trees you plant, one is harvested. Some aren’t good for Christmas trees, so they are converted to wreaths, Czarnowski said.

The farm has many free amenities for families to enjoy as they get their tree, including farm animals, Santa and a nature trail.

But “the trees are the star of the show,” Czarnowski said.

At Sinnissippi Farm & Forest near Oregon, Doug Conroy, who owns the farm with his brother John, similarly said he was expecting a pretty good turnout as the season kicked off.

About two-thirds of their trees are grown there. The rest come from places like northern Michigan.

Tariffs haven’t really affected the farm, Conroy said, but the farm’s costs have been going up each year. Prices at Sinnissippi for customers are the same as last year, he said.

Conroy said there aren’t many Christmas tree growers in Illinois, and prices reflect shortages.

As artificial trees have surged, a lot of farmers have gotten out of the Christmas tree business, Conroy said. However, there’s growing interest in going back to natural trees, with people enjoying smelling, cutting down, carrying out and prepping their tree, he said.

“It’s the experience of being outside” in the country, Conroy said, adding many people often don’t get those kinds of opportunities.

“It’s about tradition,” getting bundled up, going in the country and seeing parents who visited the farm growing up passing along their traditions to their children, Conroy said.