Christmas is coming – and the demand for natural trees to brighten the living room continues to rise faster than a sprouting Douglas fir.
“The demand is unprecedented, this year is probably the most I have ever had,” said Bruce Wilkins of Mountain View Christmas Trees in Okotoks. “The tree farms, either some of the older guys are retiring, some farms planted less trees during the housing downturn and now that those trees are maturing — they just don’t have as many.
“And just the demand issues out of the United States as well. They have a very competitive dollar and makes it hard for Canadian buyers to compete… It’s a little bit of everything.”
Wilkins said for several decades the demand for natural trees diminished, but that hasn’t been the case the past few years in his brief experience.
“What I have found over the course of five years the demand has actually started to pick up a little bit more,” Wilkins said. “I think people are going back to a more traditional outlook on Christmas.”
Mountain View, which operates out of the Warner Industrial Park near Aldersyde, is ready for the demand. It will set up its stand at next to Okotoks Staples on Nov. 27.
“We will still have the same number of trees that we have always had at that lot,” Wilkins said. “We do recommend people get the trees sooner than later. We expect we sold out by the first or second week of December.”
He estimates Mountain View sells about 4,000 Christmas trees a year – and things are getting busy.
“My analogy is farmers have harvest and we have Christmas,” Wilkins said. The demand is unprecedented, this is the busiest we have ever seen.”
Mountain View also supplies trees for the Boys Scouts Christmas tree lot in High River.
Real trees are also available at the Okotoks Canadian Tire and will be available at Okotoks Walmart in the near future.
There is also the opportunity to cut down your own Christmas trees, which can be done in some parts of the province, including the Foothills area. A government permit is needed to cut down your own Christmas tree.
