Live Christmas tree sales booming as homeowners look for holiday cheer
Not many industries seem positioned to rank 2020 among their best years ever, but early indications are that it could be in contention for sellers of live Christmas trees.
“These are some of the biggest days I've ever had, and I've been doing this for 30 years,” said Doug Handel, owner of L&M Tree and Wreath Retail Sales. “I don't know how there can be enough trees out there.”
Based on a tree farm in Medford, Wisconsin, Handel's company sells largely in the Chicago area, with seasonal lots in Chicago, Palatine, Naperville, Roselle, Villa Park and Evanston.
“It's definitely been good,” Handel said of his 2020 season, which began with a bang the day after Thanksgiving. “Everyone went into the season maybe a little afraid of what might happen. ... The whole stay-at-home thing is big right now. This is something that makes people feel good about being there. I called it the perfect storm.”
He's seen a number of signs that many of his customers are buying a real tree for the first time, notably the amount of tree stands he's sold, and the questions about care and maintenance.
Some of Handel's usual competitors didn't open at all this year for reasons he said he can only speculate on. Others ran out of stock quickly.
The most frequent first question he gets from callers this year is, “Do you have trees?” He says that's never happened before.
Doug Hundley, spokesman for the Colorado-based National Christmas Tree Association, said he's heard from farmers and retailers across the country having experiences similar to Handel's.
“We've got an uptick, there's no question about that,” Hundley said.
The trend was somewhat anticipated by a consumer survey back in July, but another survey planned in late January should give the association a better idea of how much sales increase, he said. In recent years, between 25 million and 30 million live trees have been bought in the U.S. each holiday season.
Hundley believes people are investing more in their surroundings at home, since they're spending more time there due to the pandemic. Similar trends were seen earlier this year in the gardening and home restoration industries.
“Those of us in the real tree business have never understood why people would want an artificial tree,” Hundley said, with a laugh. “Hopefully it will go on for years to come. There's not a lot of silver linings with COVID, but if it teaches us something, that's a good thing.”
Greg Freund, financial secretary of Knights of Columbus Council 11091 at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Algonquin, also believes the uncommonly swift success of his organization's annual Christmas tree sale fundraiser may be a sign of things to come.
Freund said the council debated whether to hold its sale this year because of safety concerns and uncertainty about whether customers would stay away. But because of the downturn in other fundraisers like fish frys, members decided to press ahead.
Their compromise was ordering only 300 trees rather than the usual 400. While the supply usually lasts until just before Christmas, this year they sold out in just two weeks.
Combined with an increased demand for the nativity sets the council makes and sells, this year's fundraiser will bring in its usual $8,000 to $10,000 income, Freund said. The money goes into a fund divided among about 100 local and national charities the Knights of Columbus support.
“I think people are learning to appreciate a little bit more the holidays and what they mean,” Freund said. “For a lot of people, it was their first time buying live trees.”