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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Debbie Shima, manager of Kunia Walmart, loves the smell of Christmas trees, which just arrived at her store. Walmart and Don Quijote are two of the major retailers that will have Christmas trees for sale today. Stores to follow include Home Depot and City Mill.
It’s beginning to look — and smell — like Christmas.
Decorations and merchandise for the holiday that’s still five weeks away have been displayed in many Hawaii stores since around Halloween. Now, some retailers start selling live Christmas trees today.
Walmart and Don Quijote are two major retailers in Hawaii with fresh trees for sale today. Others are expected to follow close behind, including Home Depot on Wednesday. City Mill anticipates selling trees the day after Thanksgiving, though it could be earlier depending on agricultural inspections of its tree shipment.
Selling Christmas trees the week before Thanksgiving has caught on among more retailers locally in recent years, as they elevate competition and abandon what used to be a more traditional day-after-Thanksgiving kickoff for the annual event.
Several retailers report ordering a little more trees this year than last year. Prices should be about the same as last year.
‘TIS THE SEASONChristmas trees by the numbers: » 100,000: Rough number of live Christmas trees Matson Navigation Co. ships to Hawaii every year » 28.2 million: Number of live-tree sales nationally last year » 11.7 million: Number of artificial-tree sales nationally last year » $40.92: Average retail price for farm-grown trees nationally last year » $77.01: Average price for artificial trees nationally last year Sources: Matson, National Christmas Tree Association
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Christmas tree sales in Hawaii tend to be fairly stable from year to year, though swings in the economy, shipping expenses and growing conditions on tree farms sometimes have created gluts and late-season shortages.
Last year it was nearly impossible to find imported trees almost two weeks before Christmas.
Hawaii consumers face the tricky proposition of picking the optimal time to buy Christmas trees, balancing the risks of trees drying out or running out.
Given the fragile, slow economic recovery under way, some tree sellers might be hesitant to increase supplies much this year.
"I don’t think there’s going to be any major increase," said Ralph Nilssen, president and owner of Tacoma, Wash.-based Kirk Co., which is one of the biggest suppliers of Christmas trees to Hawaii. "I still think people are looking at the economy and being conservative about their numbers."
Nilssen said growing conditions this year have been perfect for producing high-quality trees, but he expects overall shipments to Hawaii won’t be up my much.
Walmart is bringing in 24 containers of trees this year, up from 22 last year. Sales begin today at all its stores except for the one on Keeaumoku Street, which lacks a garden center.
City Mill is bringing in the same number of regular trees as it did last year but will add at least 100 table-top trees at each of its eight stores in response to customer demand.
Home Depot, which claims to sell more live trees nationwide than any other retailer, said it has been adding slightly more trees every year to its orders for Hawaii, and will do so again this year for its seven local stores.
Helemano Farms, an operation in Wahiawa growing Norfolk pine and Leyland cypress trees, opens the day after Thanksgiving.
Most imported trees will arrive in Hawaii today and next Saturday in refrigerated containers on Matson Navigation Co. ships.
The trees will have to pass state agricultural inspections before being sent to sellers.
The initial shipment of trees arrived on a Matson ship last Saturday. A final small shipment is scheduled to arrive Dec. 4.
