Not Only Christmas Gifts Can Be Bought Online

Now you really can do all your Christmas shopping on the Web.

This holiday season, a San Diego start-up called ChristmasTree.com will sell balsam, Douglas, Fraser, and noble firs on the Internet. (Stands and wreaths will also be available.) Trees range in price from $37.95 to $69.96 depending on size and variety, and the company pledges to deliver them directly from growers within 10 business days beginning in late November.

In years past, approximately 1% of the 33 million Christmas trees sold in the U.S. were ordered from catalogs or Web sites, according to the National Christmas Tree Assn. in St. Louis. But ChristmasTree.com co-founders George Adair and Geoff Garland think their site has the potential to boost that percentage.

“People are tired of spending two hours fighting holiday traffic, choosing from a small selection of 2-to-3-week-old dead trees, strapping one to their car, and leaving a trail of dead needles as they drag it through their living room,” Adair said.