ARBOREAL AFFAIRS
Tree lots usher in Christmas season throughout Kern
As more and more holiday buying shifts online each year, one in-person Black Friday shopping trend showed no sign of slowing, much to the amusement and mild chagrin of at least one local Christmas tree lot owner.
As the gaps between the rows of trees quickly filled with people looking for the time-honored living room holiday centerpiece on Friday, there seemed to be little concern from Chris Maretich that his Alpine Christmas Trees lots would lose business to a dot-com marketplace any time soon.
“Normally, used to be Black Friday was an alright day, you know, it was a good day — but the real big sales came around the 1st (of December),” said Maretich, who opened his first lot the year after he graduated from West High with the Class of ’76. “Gosh, the last few years, it’s just earlier and earlier.
“We’ve actually been selling some trees all week and we’ve been trying not to, because we weren’t ready,” he said with a laugh, referring to pre-orders via email from longtime Alpine Christmas Trees customers. Maretich’s experience has helped him garner a reputation for being able to offer larger trees, like the 54-footer featured at the opening of The Marketplace or the 25-footer that Valley Baptist orders each year. Of course, he had everything on display down to 5- and 6-footers in a more modest price range, too.
Most lots throughout the city seemed to be bustling Friday, with Mike’s Christmas Trees unable to be reached by phone. But buyers could be seen on its Snow Road lot. An employee at Heavenly
Pines on New Horizon Boulevard quickly apologized for not being able to speak on the phone as he was “swamped” with tree-seekers.
Reasons for the recent rush have been attributed to tough conditions for the tree market in the last couple of years, when elements such weather conditions and wildfires have hurt the supply of the Northwest import.
Despite years of careful planning and planting, Maretich had run out of trees by Dec. 10 last year, due to a national shortage brought on by drought conditions and a heat wave in Oregon that saw temperatures reach 117 degrees — enough to severely damage the crop for many, he said.
On Friday morning, the oldest of his five lots that combine to sell about 14,000 trees from orchards near Corvallis and Eugene in Oregon, was fully operational, even as he used his cellphone to address the logistical challenges of moving that many units in a roughly two-week span.
Kristen Oliveira showed up just before one lot opened at 9 a.m., as part of what’s become a ritual for her family that they made into a small shopping excursion.
“We Googled it and saw that (the lot) had good reviews and big trees, so we went over to check it out,” said the Lemoore resident, who was seeking a 10foot Douglas fir. “Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, we come out and make it a morning: hot chocolate and pick a tree.”
Most seemed less interested in the type of tree than its size and shape.
“We’re just looking for the biggest tree we could find,” said Nancy Rachal, who arrived at the lot as it opened with her husband, Nathan, and their three children. Among the first to hit the lot Friday, she said they knew where to go because Nathan used to work at the Wible Road location. Now the family was ready to pick the centerpiece for their family’s annual get-together.
Both Nancy and Nathan Rachal acknowledged that she would be the one picking the tree, and while she wasn’t particular about whether it was a Douglas, a noble or a Nordmann, she only took a few minutes to find the right fir Friday.