An anticipated Christmas tree shortage has prompted Red Deerians to shop early for their trees.
“A lot of people realize there’s going to be a shortage this year. We’ve had people shopping already. They’re just anxious to get them,” said Gloria Beck, owner of Parkland Garden Centre.
She expects the shortage to be worse than last year because shipments got caught in the transportation chaos caused by recent flooding and avalanches in British Columbia.
“There’s going to be a shortage unfortunately, but we do have ours,” she said about their Canadian Christmas tree stock that arrived about two days ago.
She said last year the centre sold out of trees early, and the same is expected this year, so shoppers who celebrate the season with a real evergreen tree should think about picking up their tree sooner rather than later.
If shopping early, people should store them in a shaded area outside until they are ready to trim off the end of the trunk before placing them in a stand with water.
“We have people who come back year after year. We truly want them to get their tree,” Beck said.
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Kevin Milaney, co-manager at Bluegrass Garden Centre, said he noticed the shortage while ordering trees from Ontario for the season.
“There seems to a shortage of almost everything, even boughs for instance,” Milaney said.
Shipping and access will be an issue if ordering out of B.C. Extreme weather in the summer also impacted the availability of certain boughs, he said.
Trees arrived at Bluegrass last Thursday and sales were brisk over the weekend. Last year Bluegrass sold out of all their trees except a few large ones.
“They seem to be in high demand. But I don’t want to create a panic. I don’t view it as that kind of situation. If you’re interested in a fresh cut tree, come down early.”
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Christmas trees have also arrived at Red Deer’s Superstore.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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