Christmas tree shortage impacting Albany tree sellers

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) – It’s that point once more once you’re searching for the proper Christmas tree to embellish your private home this vacation season, however you would possibly wish to hurry. The lack of a Christmas tree could make you lose the selection of the most effective one.

Some tree suppliers say they’re now getting a 3rd of the timber they bought six years in the past.

“It’s tough, you know the demand for trees has gone up drastically,” mentioned Colton Glover, Trojan Tree Lot Owner.

Glover mentioned in the course of the seven years he has been promoting timber; this 12 months has turned out to be essentially the most difficult.

“So right now we’re about 400 trees and we think we’ll be open maybe another day and we’ll be completely sold out,” he mentioned.

This has prompted most retailers to open their shops every week earlier than Thanksgiving. The lack of timber isn’t solely a consequence of inflation, but in addition of a number of droughts and fertilizer points.

“Christmas tree prices have gone up because of fertilizer costs, so overall the whole operation itself has gone up, but we have fewer trees. So everything has become more and more expensive,” Glover said.

In Albany, a 58-year-old family business has also seen an impact on the types of Christmas trees they’re getting, especially since Christmas trees take 10 years to grow.

“Especially now where we’re seeing the impact is on the bigger trees. Anything over 8 feet is really hard to get,” said Glenn Eames, Owner of Eames Christmas Trees. “We used to get two or three trucks. Now you get one and you’re lucky if you get a full truck.”

Eames said his grower expects the shortage to last until 2025.

“One day we will overcome this lack of trees and hopefully return to some kind of normalcy,” he said.

However, that won’t stop these local retailers from trying to bring another element of the holidays into everyone’s home.

“When the kids get out of that car and they’re running with their family, it’s almost like they’re not in Lee County. It’s almost like they’re at the North Pole. It’s really the overall experience with the family that we love and that we really love to bring,” Glover mentioned.

It’s because of the shortage that many people like the Gatewood family have already picked out their Christmas trees.

“You can type of inform that the timber are slightly smaller this 12 months. You know there’s not that many who get a whole lot of top, however they’re nonetheless lovely timber,” mentioned Katie Gatewood, an Albany resident.

Middi Moore and her household had been additionally fortunate and bought the precise tree they had been searching for.

“I had a friend call me yesterday and we were driving home from our Thanksgiving trip, and she said, ‘You better hurry up and get there because there aren’t many left,'” she mentioned.

But regardless of the shortage, the Hill household mentioned it is vital to deliver early vacation cheer this time of 12 months.

“A lot of people come and maybe get a lot of good trees and you want to be there to get your special tree for your family,” mentioned Israel Hill, one other Albany resident.

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