Alabamians haven’t even carved their Thanksgiving turkeys and concerns are being raised about Christmas trees.
The availability of live trees in Alabama and elsewhere has some sellers reportedly raising prices.
Doug Hundley is with the National Christmas Tree Association. He said tree growers are still dealing with the 2008 recession since it takes up to 12 years for a Christmas tree to mature.
“A lot of guys weren’t getting much from their trees. They weren’t making a profit. They weren’t removing trees from their fields and the sales were down," he said. "So they didn’t have room to plant back as many trees as they wanted.”
Hundley also said due to the nature of tree supply, consumers should buy a Christmas tree within the weeks following Thanksgiving.
Artificial tree sellers are dealing with COVID-related supply chain issues.
Hundley said buyers in Alabama and elsewhere need to think ahead.
“The general advice, whether you’re an artificial tree or real tree consumer, is to do your shopping here in the first couple of weeks right after Thanksgiving, just to have the best choices,” he said.
The National Christmas Tree Association says over 90 million U.S. households celebrated Christmas by displaying a tree in their home. Only 15 percent were live.
