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Higher Christmas tree prices not discouraging Calgarians

Click to play video: 'Calgary Christmas tree prices higher this year but customers willing to pay'
Calgary Christmas tree prices higher this year but customers willing to pay
Fri, Dec 1: Some Calgary Christmas tree lots are charging more this season compared to 2016. Operators say their input costs are higher so they have raised tree prices about $1 a foot. But that’s not slowing sales. Gary Bobrovitz has more – Dec 2, 2017

Christmas tree prices are higher on some Calgary lots this year compared to last season. But, that is not slowing sales, according to operators.

“They went up a buck a foot this year just because the cost of shipping and container loads,” Cody Grant, of Grant’s Trees, told Global News.

He expects to sell between 200 and 300 trees this weekend and the same number next weekend.

Those are traditionally the busiest periods of the season for his company, which has five lots in Calgary.

READ MORE: The best days to get the lowest prices on Christmas trees 

Customers are still willing to pay up for their tree.

“I paid $84 but it’s worth it. It’s the Christmas spirit,” Larie Lee said after her family picked out a seven-foot Fraser Fir on the Grant’s Trees lot in southwest Calgary.

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Some customers noticed the higher prices but admit they can’t deny a family tradition.

Dave Ryan paid $72 for a six-footer.

“My three little girls and my wife are behind me so that’s what I’m paying,” he said with a laugh.

Porter River Balsam says it is swamped for its special tree service. The company will deliver the tree to your home with a stand and set it up.

For a 10-foot Nova Scotia Balsam Fir, the full package price is $250.

“We are extremely busy this year,” Andrew MacIsaac, of Porter River Balsam, told Global News.

He operates the Calgary-area business.

“We are doing up to 40 deliveries a day here,” he said.

READ MORE: Missed the big holiday deals? 5 more ways to stretch your dollar this Christmas

MacIsaac’s family grows the trees on a farm in eastern Nova Scotia and ships them across Canada.

They also offer a curbside pick-up and recycling service after the holiday season.

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