Staff Photo by Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Alvin Kittle, 77, stops to look at one of his Christmas trees on the eight-acre farm site in Ringgold, Ga. “My best weekend for sales is near the 10th of the month,” he said. He began his Kittle’s Christmas Trees business in 1978.Local Christmas tree farmers are counting on the holiday spirit to outshine the tendency for consumers to hold onto their money through tough economic times.
In a state with unpredictable weather that makes growing conditions fluctuate from year to year, many of the farmers who struggle to keep their trees viable aren’t having problems getting them off their lots this season, said Art Landrigan, president of the Tennessee Christmas Tree Growers Association.
“Sales are good from everything that I’ve heard from folks so far,” he said. “The wholesale business for wholesale growers is up this year, and retail growers, I haven’t talked to all of them, but sales have been good — they’ve been brisk.”
He said the economic downturn seems to have affected the size tree people buy, opting for smaller 8-foot-tall trees instead of larger ones, but that hasn’t noticeably affected sales. With family members looking for cheap activities that can be done together, he said shopping for a Christmas tree at a local farm is a reasonable option.
“More people are probably buying from Christmas tree farms than they used to because they’re finally realizing the need to get something back in the family side,” he said. “You’re not buying a Christmas tree, you’re buying a Christmas experience.”