Selling Christmas trees has been a unique experience for John Warren, who is selling trees for the first time this year.
“It‘s a unique experience,” Warren said Tuesday at his Christmas tree lot on Beal Parkway. “I never realized how picky people could be about a tree.”
From long and skinny, long and full, short and skinny, or a perfect medium, everybody looks for a different tree. Salesmen across the Emerald Coast said business has been good this season.
“A lot of people have trouble getting into the holiday spirit,” said Eric Riggenbach, who sells trees next to the YMCA in Fort Walton Beach. “Buying a Christmas tree together helps. And then there’s the aroma. There‘s nothing like the smell of a real fresh tree.”
Tree prices vary from $25 for “Charlie Brown” trees to more than $500 for trees 14 to 15 feet tall.
Riggenbach has been in the Christmas tree business for 30 years. To pick the perfect tree, he said simply reach for the highest branch and pull. If only a few needles fall off then the tree is still fresh.
Warren said to look for browning in the branches, especially at the bottom. He said if it’s brown “it won’t last too long.”
While many people may think a live tree will never last from Thanksgiving to Christmas, salesmen say it can last far past the holiday season with proper care.
“What I‘ve been told is the tree needs one gallon of water, one tablespoon of bleach and 20 ounces of Sprite,” said Mark Kuehner, a salesman in Navarre. “That‘s what I‘ve been told is the best thing for it.”
Although Christmas still is three weeks away, trees likely won’t be available much longer.
Riggenbach said he started selling some 500 trees on Black Friday and now has fewer than 10 left.
Warren and Kuehner said the first week of December was a popular one for tree sales.
“Buying a tree is really an experience,” Warren said. “I like to let the people walk around and let the trees talk to them. I’ll have people here for 30 minutes or an hour.
“They’ll test the strength of the branches, compare heights of the trees, and some people come out here and they sniff the tree,” he added laughing. “They love it.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.