OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Christmas is just 4 weeks away and for many this is the weekend to go get a Christmas tree. But with the price of almost everything going up, reporter Molly Hudson wondered if real Christmas tree sales would see a hit. Molly went to Cirian’s Farmers Market/Christmas Tree Company where the co-owner says despite the price increase, demand is as high as ever.
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Cirian’s has been selling Christmas trees on Leavenworth Street for 45 years.
"People will come in and be like what did I get last year and you know they expect you to remember what they got because they are so used to seeing you and you are so used to seeing them," said Austin Cirian, co-owner at Cirian’s.
Each tree as unique as the person picking it out.
"Ones with funky tops, little bit crooked trunks," Cirian said.
But when you've been doing something since the 70’s its fair to wonder when your time is up.
"We always worry, you know, we never know if it is going to be the year where people are like, you know, let's cut out the Christmas tree, but I think that is one thing people kind of prepare for every year is, it's just kind of built into their Christmas costs," Cirian said.
Those worries driven by inflation and a national Christmas tree shortage that is also driving up tree prices.
"Since Christmas trees take so long to grow, that may be true for the next couple of years," said Jill Sidebottom, a spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association.
“We’ve actually got a lot of new customers early because people that used to get trees from other places aren't selling them this year," Cirian said.
Cirian says their seller raised prices on average size trees by about $5 this year and the bigger trees by about $25 to $30. But as a family business they worked to keep their prices low, ranging from about $75 to $165 depending on the style and size.
But despite the challenges, Cirian says the demand is still high.
'We've probably got roughly I would say maybe 800 left of the original 1250 or so," Cirian said.
The National Christmas Tree Association reports 21.6 million real Christmas trees were purchased last year. They expect close to the same this year.
Cirian says his customers keep coming back for the real thing. After all, it’s hard to break with tradition.
"We will always have that battle of people, you know, thinking about switching but I think in the long run it's just so much nicer to have the real tree and all that goes with it," Cirian said.
Cirian says they run out of trees earlier and earlier each year. This weekend they are expecting to go through 200 trees a day.
