Christmas tree prices up from last year

People are gearing up for the holidays and many are buying Christmas trees this week, but this year’s trees may be more expensive than years before. “Trees are $20-$30 more than previous years,” said one buyer. Berlyn Aerni is a tree grower from Oregon, he’s been in the tree industry for more than 45 years and watched the industry boom with tree growers, resulting in over production in 2010 which forced many out of the business. “If there’s money in it, everyone gets into it and the next thing you know there’s too many [trees]. Another thing happened last year, we had an extremely hot year. I’ve seen total farms burn out…weather-wise, it just really hurt the trees last year, so it made a shortage this year,” said Aerni. Sellers like Priscilla Silvas, who purchase her trees whole-sale, are seeing the impacts. “Many of the growers are no longer growing trees, so there’s fewer trees in southern California. So this year, we’re down 100 to 150 trees at each lot,” Silvas said. While trees are low and prices high, some are seeing a benefit in artificial trees. “”Everything’s there. A lot of them already have the lights on them and everything,” said one man. But many just can’t stray away from the perks of a real tree. “I like the smell, I just like them, I wouldn’t even consider a fake tree,” said a man who just purchased his tree. Christmas tree retailers say they’re not sure what the future holds, but as long as people are celebrating Christmas, they can count on sales.