Saskatoon Christmas tree sales remain steady amid shortage

WATCH: The demand for Christmas trees has surged in Saskatoon, with one Lawson Heights-based vendor saying they're already nearly sold out.

The first week of December proved that many people in Saskatoon are eager to get into the Christmas spirit by bringing a real tree into their homes.

“Ours are fresh cut right from North Battleford. McKay Tree Farm, and, he fresh cut some, they smell awesome, they go pretty fast. So we’re running out. So if anybody needs a tree. But they better come in the next few days,” Sandra Berger, a sales associate for McKay Tree Farm said.

Berger has seen many people come through the Lawson Heights Mall parking lot to peruse through the rows of trees. However, those rows are becoming sparser by the day thanks to a steady demand for real Christmas trees in Saskatoon.

McKay Tree Farm isn’t the only business seeing significant support this holiday season. Saskatoon’s Dutch Growers is also anticipating a sell out season.

“Some people like to wait until middle of December. Christmas trees don’t last that long inside of your home. So if you want your Christmas tree to last until New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, usually people will come around the mid-December. So I would say Christmas tree sales are probably sold out by maybe like December 20th,” Ireland Jones, the director of marketing for Dutch Growers said.

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Jones shared that while some environmental factors have contributed to a more limited supply of trees, Dutch Growers is still seeing a successful season.

“Unfortunately, there are shortages this year due to drought, and fires that are happening around Canada. So we did see a shortage of about 100 trees that we were not able to get in this year. I think last year we brought it close to 900 [trees], and this year it’s close to 800,” Jones said.

Both businesses shared that the demand for real Christmas trees this year appears to be on par with previous holiday seasons.

“It’s looking about the same way we sell usually the same every year, give or take ten here or there,” Berger said.

“I would say it’s maybe the same. I mean we’re getting new residents of Canada all the time too so more people are buying Christmas trees,” Jones said.

Berger added that it’s encouraging to see folks carry on an old tradition, while also creating new traditions.

“Everybody used to have a real Christmas tree back in the olden days,” Berger said. “Some people have really great traditions, like one family, they walk, they pick up a huge tree and they carry it home ... he had Christmas music as he was walking.”