TRI-CITIES, Wash. – Tis the season to morph your home into a lighted spectacle. November is ending, and some people are already decorating for Christmas.
According to the American Christmas Tree Association, the average price of a Christmas tree is up 10 percent more than this time a year ago. Trees this year are averaging between $80 and $100. Kyle Beus, the owner of Angel Brook Farms, said farmers are trying to find the sweet spot when it comes to dealing with inflation.
“You know, the good news is we held our price this year,” said Beus. “The year before, we had to do a little bit of an increase, but this year, we haven’t increased at all. You just got to be careful of where that price point is.”
Beus said if you’re a natural tree person or an artificial tree person, a few dollars isn’t going to make a difference.
Beus said he’s got plenty of trees, but there’s always a shortage of the big noble trees.
According to a survey by Lawn Starter, more than 21 percent of people said they would spend between $200 and $300 on decorations, an area Beus said he’s trying to grow.
“We sell fresh garland, we’ve seen an uptick in that,” Beus said. “Natural, fresh, not the plastic and some of the artificial stuff.”
Beus said he could hold his tree prices because of the decorations sales.
The Lawn Starter survey said more than 76% of people will buy a new Christmas tree this year, and 51% will buy a live tree.
The survey says that 11% of women will spend more than $500 on holiday decorations, and so did 4.4% of men. The survey also stated adults 25 to 34 are the most likely to go all out and have budgeted money for that.
Beus said he and his wife are basic in decorating, but for others, he likes to give people a blank canvas of a tree and let them turn it into art.
