Christmas trees are up this year — and we don't mean they're taller
For many homes, a tree is a staple of the Christmas season. A long-standing tradition, each year we watch as houses and malls and public spaces are lit up with light-stringed trees and colourful bulbs.
But with the rising cost of gas and fertilizer, the price of Christmas trees across Newfoundland and Labrador has increased sharply this year.
Lester's Farm Market in St. John's is one popular venue for prospect Christmas tree buyers. And for the last decade, their trees have been shipped from Nova Scotia.
With rising fuel and supplier costs, the farm has increased prices this year to offset those expenses.
Amy Molloy, who has worked at Lester's Farm Market since 2019, said the costs have had an impact on the prices at their location.
"We get these in from Nova Scotia so they have to be transported here, so the cost of fuel would put an impact on that. Our smallest trees, the seven- to eight-foot trees, just had a nine-dollar increase."
WATCH | See tree shoppers turn red over rising prices:
Overall, said Molloy, trees are $5 to $10 more expensive this year. Prices at Lester's range from $79.25 to $195.25.
Brendan Kehoe used to cut his own Christmas tree but for the last couple of years he has bought them. This year, he bought one from Lester's.
He said real trees save on plastic but he has seen fewer sellers around this year. The price has also gone up, like everything else, he said. But Christmas isn't the same without a tree, he said.
"What do you do? You've got to have it," he said.
Lester's usually brings in 600 trees each year. As of Wednesday, they had about 160 left.
Small-time sellers are stumped
Gerard Kavanagh has been selling Christmas trees for over 40 years. Each year he gets a government permit and cuts on Crown land.
Most years, he gets 150 to 200 trees, and rarely is he left with any by Christmas. Last year, he said, one customer came to his house on Christmas Eve to buy a tree.
But over the past few years, he said, the rising cost of fuel has affected his prices.
"The further you got to go and the bigger the tree, that determines the price. So if you've got to travel a long ways, then you've got $40 or $50 in gas. Someone's got to pay for it."
Kavanagh said his repeat customers understand how inflation has hit his business.
"They realize you have to jack the price up a bit for the gas and that. But we got a lot of regular customers and they understand," he said.
Kavanagh has also noticed that the number of Christmas tree sellers has decreased over the years. When he started in the business there were vendors to fill parking lots, and now it can be hard to find a lot with trees in it.
He's not certain why that's the case, but he said increasing expenses has made it harder to stay in the seasonal work.
Tree-mendous increases in prices
Marilyn Kinden's family operates C&C Christmas Tree Farm in Lewisporte. She said the difference in the operating invoices from this year and last year is "mind-blowing."
"The trees we sold last year ranged between $60 and $65, unless you wanted a nine- or 10-foot tree you might be up to $80, $85."
Now the average tree is $75, she said.
And, for the first time in 30 years, the farm will not be sending Christmas trees outside the area.
"Normally I would do Gander and Grand Falls area and we would send trees into St. John's to be sold. But this year, absolutely, it will not happen," Kinden said.
Her fertilizer costs have doubled since last year, she said, and with the price of gas and wages and insurance, the expenses keep adding up.
"You know, it really makes you sit back and think, is it worth it?"
But Kinden knows people who do want trees will buy them, and she expects this year's crop will be sold out by next week.
