It’s been a strange and stressful year and a half for the global economy, so it’s not necessarily surprising that the cost of certain items has also increased over that period of time. With the holiday season currently looming, it’s worth mentioning that certain annual pieces of Christmas decor are no exception to this trend. Whether you’re buying a real tree or an artificial one for Christmas this year, you’ll probably be paying a little more for it.
A new article at Newsday cites experts saying that tree buyers will be paying between 10% and 30% more for their trees of choice. Among those quoted in the article is one of the organizers of an annual Christmas tree sale for the Huntington Fire Department in New York. “We’ve had to compromise on what types of trees we’re getting, sizes, everything,” said firefighter John Mohlenhoff.
The seeds for this — no pun intended — were planted over a decade ago. The article notes that some tree farmers opted to plant fewer trees in the wake of the 2008 recession, meaning that they have fewer mature trees now. As for artificial trees, global supply chain issues have made those more scarce than in years past.
That being said, the higher prices aren’t entirely due to tree-specific issues in the global economy. A New York Times report last month noted that consumer prices had increased by 5.4% in September relative to the year before. And there are a host of factors that can contribute to this, from workers being paid more to supply chain issues making certain things more scarce.
But if you’re planning to have an epic Douglas fir or a gloriously synthetic tree on display this year, you might need to have a couple of backup plans at the ready, just in case.
More Like This
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
