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Real Christmas tree converts expected to return

Christmas tree growers expect last year’s strong demand for real trees to continue.

Executive director of the Christmas Tree Promotion Board Marsha Gray tells Brownfield 2020 was a record in recent memory.

“There’s a lot of excitement to know that if we can grow it, consumers want to buy it,” she says.  “As stressful as it can be as we deal with the weather and trucking and things we don’t get to control, the industry I think is very enthusiastic and bullish on the future.”

Nearly 90 percent of consumers surveyed earlier this year who switched to a real Christmas tree last year say wish they had done so sooner. 

“The pandemic I think made that even more obvious yet it’s a trend we’ve been watching for years,” she says.

More than half of consumers in their annual survey say they expect more gatherings this year and more decorations, making them more likely to put up a real Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend of December Gray says are the busiest of the year.