People looking to add a natural Christmas tree to their living room in Saskatoon this holiday season may already be out of luck.
Owner and manager of the local Dutch Growers, Jill Vanduyvendyk, said they usually have about a thousand trees in stock and received more than 2019.
“We only had eight Christmas trees left last Sunday and they also sold,” Vanduyvendyk said on Monday.
He said the trees sold quite a bit earlier than they usually do.
“We usually sell the trees around Dec. 18 or between Dec. 18-22 every year so definitely, … we sold out very quickly.
“I think people were buying a lot earlier than they usually buy this year just because they’re at home and they want to get everything set up. And we got that big snowfall. … An early snowfall always gets people excited about Christmas earlier.”
The family-run business, McKay Tree Farm, sells its Christmas trees at Market Mall and Lawson Heights Mall.
“The tree farm has been selling for about pretty much just over 30 years now,” said manager Rylee McKay on Monday.
“It is in North Battleford. As I’m told, it’s the first tree farm in Saskatchewan.”
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He said the business started selling on Nov. 26 this season and there hasn’t been much downtime.
“It’s a lot of work all at once because when the tree’s cut, the tree season gets here, we’ve got trucks going every day. Like my dad, he doesn’t stop. He’s working for six weeks straight or more and there’s just a limit to how much we can do,” McKay said.
“Everyone wants their trees all at once.”
McKay said sales have been positive this season.
“I couldn’t say the exact number, but what we normally bring in for our season is already sold. … So this is the earliest we’ve ever sold out, I suppose, in the 17 years I’ve been doing this,” he said.
“We’re talking about getting a few more trees in case someone didn’t get one.”
Vanduyvendyk had some alternative ideas for people who can’t find a Christmas tree this season — especially if they want that fresh tree smell in their homes.
“They could get some live greens and they could put them in a bucket of water,” she said. “A lot of people are maybe putting a live garland on their fireplace mantle or around a doorway in their house.”
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