The tree's the thing — Providers of 'real' Christmas trees fight for market share

Come Christmas morning, most people are focused on the presents stacked under their tree.

But for Wes Harwood, the tree itself is almost as important. And if you want a real Christmas, you need a "real" tree.

"People are realizing, 'Hey, this fake tree isn't that cool,' " said Harwood, owner of Harwood's Christmas Trees at 4830 S. Highland Drive. "They're pulling it out of a box instead of going to a tree lot and bringing the kids and picking out a tree. . . . It's an experience, and it's part of Christmas, and people are starting to realize that's important."

Or at least, Harwood and other tree growers and sellers hope so.

Members of the National Christmas Tree Association are in the midst of an aggressive marketing campaign to improve demand for live trees.

"Our market has shifted on us and we just didn't pay attention," said Irwin Loiterstein, director of the association's marketing campaign.

He notes annual sales of live trees dropped from about 32 million in 2000 to 23.4 million in 2003, while the number of artificial trees displayed each year grew from an estimated 50.6 million in 2000 to 62.9 million in 2003.

But the association says that trend may be turning around. According to a nationwide poll conducted for the group by Wirthlin Worldwide/Harris Interactive, U.S. consumers will purchase 24 million to 24.5 million "real" Christmas trees this year.

Ron and Gaylynn Mortensen of Herriman are among those who buy a live Christmas tree every year, although Gaylynn said she's thought about trying an artificial tree.

"Sometimes I've wondered if I'm allergic to (live trees)," she said. "I always have a cold at Christmas."

She said her family had a live tree when she was growing up, but she doesn't like the annual struggle to water a tree properly and keep it fresh until Christmas.

"And then there are the friendly spiders that come in with it," Gaylynn said.

However, she said, her children and husband love the excitement of picking out a live tree every year.

"Ron has always loved getting a real tree," Gaylynn said. "When he was a kid, his extended family went out and cut Christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving. He loved that. . . .

"It's a big event to go and pick out the tree. If we had a tree that we just brought upstairs ever year, I think that would be kind of anticlimactic."