Could Amazon uproot tree lots, farms?
Some fear disruption by giant e-tailer; skeptics say tradition tops convenience
Richard Devine stepped over tan wood shavings and green fir needles as he brushed past the Noble and Nordman fir trees standing branch-to-branch in the open warehouse of his nursery in the Heights, the scent of the woods thick in the air as he made his way to a table topped with three freshly-cut conifers from the Pacific Northwest.
“Jaime, we’ve got to get water to these trees,” he shouted to an employee. “Water! Water!”
Devine, the owner of National Tree and Shrub, has sold thousands of Christmas trees over the course of nearly 35 years, believing that the experience of selecting trees and the care he gives them protected his business from online competitors. After all, he said, who doesn’t want to look, touch and smell before they choose?
That’s what grocery stores thought, too. And
now, Christmas tree lots and farms are about to face the same juggernaut that has upended the grocery business and so many others before it — Amazon.com.
Amazon this year launched a new service to deliver full-size, fresh Christmas trees to customers’ homes, betting that lots of people will prefer convenience over experience. The mega-etailer has shown time and time again that it can change consumer buying habits and longtime traditions, and that is making purveyors of fresh Christmas trees around Houston nervous.
Devine said he was flabbergasted that Amazon would try to break into the business. Shortly after Amazon began selling trees, Devine said, he burned his Amazon Prime card and swore to never buy anything from the online retailer again.
“Amazon has just gone too far with this, coming after our livelihood,” Devine said. “They’re going to hurt small, independent nurseries like us. We rely a lot on tree sales.”
Higher threat level
Amazon isn’t the first retailer to ship Christmas trees direct to consumers. Specialty retailers, such as Williams-Sonoma and Hammacher Schlemmer, have delivered fresh Christmas trees for years, while Home Depot, which sells 2.5 million Christmas trees a year, started shipping trees in 2014. Third-party retailers have sold Christmas trees through Amazon.com for some time.
But Amazon’s direct entry into the market raises the threat to Christmas tree lots to a new level. Over the years, Amazon’s relentless drive into new markets has wiped out bookstores, sellers of toys and electronics and a long list of other retailers. When Amazon bought Whole Foods last year, the $13.7 billion acquisition sent a shock wave throughout the grocery industry, ushering in a new era of e-commerce.
Today, most major grocers in Houston offer online ordering, curbside pickup and home delivery of groceries. H-E-B, Kroger and Walmart are investing heavily in new technologies to compete with Amazon.
But Derrick Norris, who operates two lots in Pearland and Deer Park, doesn’t have those kind of resources. The owner of Derrick’s Christmas Trees, in the business for more than 30 years, sells up to 2,900 fir trees at each location every year. His trees range in price from $30 to $350.
Sales so far this year are down 18 percent, Norris said. He doesn’t know if it’s competition from Amazon, or other challenges facing the industry, such as a national tree shortage that has forced Norris to raise his prices.
“I don’t know if it’s Amazon, but they’re going to have a big impact,” Norris said. “Let’s face it, people like to buy stuff online. It’s easier for them.”
Americans last year bought 27 million fresh Christmas trees, spending $75 on average, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, which represents 3,000 tree growers nationwide. Online sales represented just 1 to 2 percent.
Doug Hundley, a spokesman for the tree growers association downplayed the threat from Amazon, suggesting that the retailer could help boost sales of fresh trees, which have steadily lost market share to artificial trees over the years. Today, 3 out of 4 American households that celebrate Christmas use artificial trees, according to the association.
“Amazon isn’t going to affect anything right now,” Hundley said, “except maybe help a baby boomer get a real tree that they hadn’t had in a while.”
Amazon last year started selling Christmas trees that were 3 feet tall or shorter. In September, the company said it would sell full-sized trees through a partnership with Hallmark, the greeting card company.
Free shipping
Amazon is offering a variety of trees ranging from a foot-tall Norfolk Island pine to 7-foot Fraser firs, priced from $20 to $110 — with free shipping. The Seattle company began delivering its first trees on Nov. 19, and is taking orders until Dec. 15.
Amazon’s trees, sourced from farms in Michigan and North Carolina, are cut just prior to shipping to maintain freshness. The tree comes packed tightly in a large cardboard box with care instructions, tree preserver and a biodegradable tree removal bag. Amazon declined to provide figures on its Christmas tree sales.
Houston Garden Centers sells 70,000 Christmas trees each year at its 22 locations around Houston, accounting for about 10 percent of the company’s annual revenues, said owner Matt Hooper. Tree sales so far this year have been fine, said Hooper, adding that he has no plans to start delivering to keep up with Amazon.
“We already compete with Walmart and Home Depot, and they haven’t put me out of business,” said Hooper, who has operated his company for 48 years. “I’m not really worried about Amazon. If they do a better job, so be it.”
Tree farms, where Houstonians can cut down their own trees, said they’re not that worried about Amazon. Many farms host activities such as photo shoots with Santa and Christmas light shows, which Amazon can’t match online.
Larry and Mary Emerson have sold Christmas trees at Dewberry Farm since 2009. The husband-and-wife owners have planted nearly 17,000 Cypress and Blue Ice trees on some 20 acres on their farm in Brookshire, just 10 miles from a new 1million-square-foot distribution facility where Amazon’s trees will be shipped.
The Emersons sell between 2,000 and 2,500 Christmas trees a year, ranging in price from $40 to $300. Tree sales are down a little from last year, but the farm is still doing well, Emerson said, declining to give specifics. Dewberry Farm attracts as many as 100,000 visitors a year to its fall pumpkin patch, Christmas tree farm and attractions, like big slides, a carousel and petting zoo.
“Our customers, they’re not just looking for trees,” Mary Emerson said. “They’re looking for tradition.”
Tradition is what brought Jaime Cruz, 40, his wife, Reyna, 39, and their two young children to Dewberry Farm on a recent Sunday afternoon. After taking a tractor hayride down to a field of trees, the Katy family ambled through the evergreens, searching for the right one: a slim, 9-footer that would fit in their living room.
The Instagram factor
After about 30 minutes, the Cruzes found their perfect Christmas tree.
Jaime knelt down on a piece of cardboard and began sawing away at the trunk while Reyna took selfies on her phone with their daughters, Vida, 3, and Zoe, 1. “Yay, good job, Daddy!” Reyna exclaimed as her husband finished cutting down their tree.
The Cruzes admitted they were big Amazon shoppers but said they came out to get into the Christmas spirit, despite the balmy 75-degree weather.
“Online ordering would be easier, but it takes the tradition out of it,” Jaime said.
“Plus,” Reyna added, “you can’t post pictures of an Amazon tree on Facebook and Instagram. That’s too easy.”