A Growing Trend: Big Trees at Christmas
Michael Randles’ Christmas tree is so big it took a crane to erect it on the front lawn of his Stone Mountain, Ga., home.
Randles, owner of M&M; Mortgage Corp., spent more than $50,000 to buy the 60-foot Norway spruce, truck it from Sugar Mountain Nursery in Newland, N.C., and decorate it with 30,000 lights and 500 red and gold ornaments, some as big as basketballs.
“Without the year I’ve had in my business, I would not have been able to afford it,” said Randles, 36, who also has a shorter tree inside his house.
U.S. homeowners are buying bigger, more expensive Christmas trees, and some are taking home a second or third tree, according to growers. Executives at Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc., the world’s largest home-improvement chain, and analysts say the trend may signal rising holiday sales.
Increased spending on bigger trees “is a real big indicator to us that consumer confidence is back,” Home Depot Chief Executive Robert Nardelli said this month.
Sales of Christmas trees will rise as much as 25% this year to 28 million, after three years of decline, according to the National Christmas Tree Assn., which represents growers.
About a fifth of trees are sold by U.S. retail chains, including Lowe’s Cos., where “large trees are selling the fastest,” said Chris Ahearn, a spokeswoman for the No. 2 home-improvement chain.
“Tree buying is a bellwether of sorts for other holiday retail activity,” said Rick Dungey, spokesman for the growers association. He spoke with investors on a conference call this month hosted by Dana Telsey, Bear Stearns & Co.’s retail analyst.
Large trees are just one anecdotal indicator of an improved holiday selling season, Telsey said: The number of kids having their photo taken with Santa is up as much as 8%.
But Goldman Sachs & Co. analyst Peter Appert said sales of gift wrap point to a “ho-hum” holiday season for retailers.
Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year were expected to rise as much as 4% in the November-December period, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Last year, they rose 0.5% in that period, the worst in more than three decades.
The bigger tree trend also reflects U.S. consumers spending more to buy and decorate larger homes, where families are spending more time, executives and analysts said.
Home-related purchases are the “sweet spot” of consumer purchasing, Nardelli said.
“The economy is showing strength,” he said. “What we’re hearing from consumers is that they’re very excited about the tax rebate they got this year and they’re looking toward next year.”
U.S. consumer confidence rose in November to the highest in more than a year as hiring picked up, according to the New York-based Conference Board.
“This will be the largest year for farm-fresh Christmas trees in the history of the business,” said Russ Whited, owner of Whited’s Farm Fresh Christmas Trees in Fort Myers, Fla. His company sells more than 100,000 trees to distributors and retailers, and he says trees taller than 10 feet are in short supply.
One reason for the larger trees is that homeowners are buying more spacious homes with cathedral ceilings. The average size of a new home has increased to more than 2,300 square feet from about 1,900 square feet in 1987, the National Assn. of Home Builders said.
“A giant tree just looks beautiful,” said Carla McClanahan, a Dallas writer who spent $200 on tree decorations for her 18-footer. She and her husband Mark, a financial planner, hosted a Christmas party for more than 60 people.
“Everybody just loved it,” she said.
The Pine Shadows Farm in Roaring Gap, N.C., expects to sell about 250 Fraser firs taller than eight feet, including about 50 over 10 feet. That represents a third straight year of “gradual increases” in sales of tall trees, said Alfred Motsinger, 49, who runs the family business.
Customers who travel from as far away as Raleigh, N.C., 160 miles east, pay $54 for trees eight to nine feet tall and about $10 more for each additional foot.
“So many people have rooms with ceilings higher than eight feet, and they want tall trees,” Motsinger said. “Particularly after the Sept. 11 tragedy, people were looking for something comforting, wanting to put more effort into improving what they have at home.”
Sales of artificial trees also are increasing. Demand for a 7 1/2-foot fake tree with lights that costs $99 is up 73% this year, said Bruce Dale, chief executive of Frank’s Nursery & Crafts Inc., which gets 15% of its sales from Christmas merchandise. More consumers are buying three-foot live trees to put on tables, he said.
The surge in tree sales means late buyers may not find 10-foot and larger trees in the last few days before Christmas, tree farmers say.
Jack and Paula Crossan of Weehawken, N.J., had to settle for an eight-foot tree this year, less than half the size of past years, when the tree farm he goes to ran out of the larger ones.
“I wanted to get as big of a tree as the house would take,” said Jack Crossan, 57, a service manager for an air-conditioning company. “I have always liked real trees and larger trees.”
