Christmas tree trouble

Thanksgiving weekend is the traditional kickoff for Christmas tree shopping.

But with a high percentage of seasonal products stuck at the overloaded ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the task is more urgent than usual this year.

“If you want to wait until then, I would recommend making it happen that weekend and not wait a minute longer,” said Jami Warner, executive director of the American Christmas Tree Association in Sacramento.

“I think the good news is that Christmas is not canceled. Consumers will be able to find real and artificial Christmas trees this season. But we’re recommending that they start shopping now, whether it’s online or in person.”

The West Coast is experiencing a Christmas tree shortage, according to Warner and other experts.

Due to supply chain issues, artificial trees and ornaments are arriving much later than usual.

Balsam Hill, a Bay Area company that specializes in artificial Christmas trees, wreaths and seasonal decor, has received about 50% of its stock, and it should have 80% by now, according to Mac Harman, founder and chief executive officer.

Variety as well as volume is down. In a phone interview, Harman said his company had about 60% of its items available for sale, and it should have 100%.

“If we have 500 items to sell, we might have 300 in by now. That’s a challenge.”

High demand, lower inventory

Customers are ready and eager to spend on holiday cheer. There are supply chain issues and a shortage of workers, but the National Retail Federation is predicting holiday spending will shatter records in 2021, climbing between 8.5% and 10.5% over 2020 to between $843.4 billion and $859 billion. And 2020 was a good year, with sales up 8.3% over 2019, according to the federation.

“We all thought 2020 was crazy, and 2021 should be even more of an adventure,” Harman said.

The inventory is down on real trees grown in the Northwest for a number of reasons, including wildfires, drought and a shortage of truck drivers to transport them, Warner said in a separate phone interview.

Christmas trees are grown on farms and take 10 years to mature, and fewer were planted in the years after the Great Recession of 2008, Harman said.

“Because of high demand, especially last year because of COVID, growers would harvest a little bit smaller trees. They borrowed from next year’s crop. For this year, that’s been perpetuated. So you’re going to see a little bit smaller trees on the market.”

The result is prices that are 20%-30% higher this year for both real and artificial trees, according to Warner.