There is a shortage of real Christmas trees. Vendors in Bradenton say they see impact
For decades, the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County has been selling real Christmas trees locally and this year is no different. But due to an ongoing tree shortage, officials said they had to change the vendors they use to bring the trees to their lot.
Friday, the club opened its 64th annual Christmas tree lot at the Westgate Shopping Center, 3913 Manatee Ave. W.
With hundreds of trees ranging in size spread out across the mostly shaded lot, it’s not easy to immediately tell there are fewer trees available.
Beth Clark, COO of the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County, said customers have not commented that they notice any shortage.
Then again, there were hundreds of trees arranged outside, with more sitting in refrigerated tractor trailers behind the sales area for a total of 702 trees in their lot Friday.
Clark said their usual vendor had “no trees” for them this year and recommended another company to work with, which forced the Boys and Girls Club to pay more than usual. That, Clark said, cuts into their profit margins for one of their three biggest fundraisers of the year.
While Clark noticed the decreased supply, she said customers Friday had not mentioned it.
The lot off Manatee Avenue was the first stop where Barbara Wichowski and her friends looked for a Christmas tree, and purchased one Friday afternoon. They had not heard about a tree shortage.
Wichowski and the small group gathered around said the lot looked like it had “plenty of trees” with a “nice selection.” They acknowledged it was still early in the season.
But the Boys and Girls Club is not the only ones possibly seeing a tight supply this year, according to an Associated Press report.
Basically, blame the Great Recession. It pushed growers out of business or, as Clark said was the case for the Boys and Girls Club’s vendor, forced them to plant fewer trees, reducing the supply. Any basic economic class will preach when supply is down, demand and price tend to increase hand-in-hand.
But nature doesn’t exactly care about the consumer demand for a real Christmas tree right this minute. It takes about eight to 10 years to grow a tree, according to the AP.
Other issues, according to the AP, include: a spring frost that damaged trees and snow that makes transportation difficult in Canada. There also is a shortage of Fraser trees on the east coast not exactly helped by those in Oregon picking Fraser trees instead of noble firs.
Alpine Christmas Trees — which sells North Carolina Fraser firs at St Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church, 11315 Palmbrush Trail, Lakewood Ranch and 8504 South Trail, Sarasota — noted on their website that a large amount of rain in North Carolina may cause a slight delay in receiving trees.
Officials told the AP large retailers “are doing just fine,” but the smaller organizations — like the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County — may be left to deal with a shortage.
For the Boys and Girls Club, Clark said they usually get a second shipment of trees before Christmas. This year, with two full refrigerated tractor trailers sitting on the lot, they will have to talk to the vendors to decide if they will do the same.
In the parking lot in front of KMart near the corner of 75th Street West and Manatee Avenue West, Mike Dobromil sold trees displayed under tents Friday for Yellow Bird, L.C.
He said they had about 250 trees Friday, are expecting another load of trees to come soon and are still waiting on one that was scheduled to come earlier this week.
Their supply issues were because of rain in North Carolina, then the temperature dropping too low to wrap the trees without breaking branches, according to Dobromil.
Yellow Bird L.C.’s tents opened Sunday, and Dobromil said even with the shortage, they hope to sell about 800 trees this year. In 2017, they sold just over 700.
Their most popular trees are the ones reaching 7 feet to 8 feet tall, according to Clark. They exclusively sell Fraser firs from North Carolina. Prices for their trees in 2018 range from $30 to $305. Those prices, Clark said, are about the same as they have been in years past.
In 2017, 27.4 million real Christmas trees were purchased for an average of $75 per tree, according to a National Christmas Tree Association survey by Nielsen/Harris Poll.
Clark expects the next two weekends to be the busiest. She recommended getting a tree during the week to skip the weekend crowds.
But the Boys and Girls Club is dealing with another kind of shortage.
“The tougher thing is getting volunteers,” Clark said.
The Boys and Girls Club is looking for more people to help run the tree sale. Clark hopes program alumni will come out and volunteer.
This story was originally published November 23, 2018 at 3:21 PM.