Christmas tree day was yesterday. A favorite holiday activity of city people is to drive to the mountains the day after Thanksgiving, buy a tree, shop downtown, eat out and head home. We counted 32 trees on the tops of cars in about an hour of driving around. It sounds like the export trees are cheaper than usual:
Holiday shoppers are discovering retail prices of Christmas trees in the Triangle [i.e., Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill] at their lowest point in several years as tree sellers compete with artificial trees and contend with an ailing economy.
At the State Farmers Market in Raleigh on Friday, tree vendors said they were doing well if they kept this year's prices flat with last year's. Not all vendors could keep that vow, and customers were finding deals.
The weekend after Thanksgiving traditionally kicks off the season, with home-improvement retailers, cut-your-own farms, church lots and corner stands selling thousands of trees. ...
Even small price changes could have a broad economic impact. North Carolina is the nation's second-largest producer of Christmas trees. Nearly 20 percent come from this state.
Christmas tree prices depend on the vendor, quality of a tree and size.
I'll get my tree in a couple weeks. It will be fabulous.
