Finding that perfect live Christmas tree for the 2019 holiday season may be problematic.
According to Boy Scout Troop 399 Christmas Tree chairman Ed Kuhn, several family-owned Christmas tree farms with which he does business, were adversly affected by the 2008 economic meltdown.
Because of the tight-money economy at that time, some farms didn’t plant, and most of those slowly sold off inventory and went out of business.
Because of that, Kuhn’s suppliers advised him to order early for 2019.
Kuhn ordered 1,100 trees from two different suppliers in July. He was assurred that because Troop 399 was a long-standing good customer, and because of the early order, all of their trees would be delivered.
Troop 399, based at the West Side’s Sacred Heart church, has sold Christmas trees to fund their summer trips for more than 60 years.
Other tree lots might not be so lucky.
Kuhn says some of the tree farms are getting pressure to supply taller and wider trees this year because the present economy is good.
Many tree farms cannot meet that demand.
Troop 399’s trees are scheduled for delivery the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and their lot will open for business that Friday.
