McKenna Tucker
Mr. Reuter
Economics
10 Dec. 2016
Christmas Tree Production
Christmas is typically the largest economic stimulus for many nations around the world as sales increase dramatically in almost all retail areas. The United States' retail industry generated over three trillion U.S. dollars during the holidays in 2013. The holiday sales reflected about 19.2% of the retail industries total sales that year (Mortenson). The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past decades.
The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily throughout the world and will continue to be a significant event and key sales period for retailers and businesses. This can be evidenced in the fact that 29% of respondents in a 2016 survey stated that they expect to spend over 500 U.S. dollars on gifts for the holiday season. Christmas tree production occurs worldwide on Christmas tree farms, in artificial tree factories and from native stands of pine and fir trees. In the United States, between 35 and 40 million trees are sold during the Christmas season.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the number of growers has decreased during the past decade (Mortenson). Christmas tree farms are seeing a reduction in supply while the demand remains high. In 2015 there was a change in harvesting trees causing prices to increase, which worried retailers that there might not be enough trees available later in the season (Burke). Kathleen Burke, reporter, indicated that “Last year, the number of businesses was getting slimmer… This year, we had people coming from other lots saying they don’t have trees anymore or don’t have a good selection (Burke). Due to the lack of tree supply, more and more people are having trouble finding Christmas trees. 
Oregon is one of the top producers in the nation for Christmas trees. In 2015 Oregon sold 4.7 million trees and 6.4 million in 2010, however the supply and demand has expected to grow this year. Due to the law of demand, more real trees are bought than artificial trees. A substitution effect also occurs since the price of artificial trees increases making consumers buy less of that product and more of real trees as a substituted good. “The drop in production has been met with increased demand” (Mortenson). The industry will most likely be shipping fewer trees overseas this year because the domestic demand is strong.
Overall, the supply of Christmas trees are expected to grow over the years. The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past decades. So even if one year isn’t good for tree production, it doesn’t mean that the following years will be too.
Works Cited
Burke, Kathleen, “Why You Might Need to Buy a Christmas Tree Early This Year.” Market Watch, 5 Dec. 2015, http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-you-might-nee d-to-buy-a-christmas -tree-early-this-year-2015-12-01.
“Christmas trees sold in the United States 2004-2015.” Statista, 2016, https://www.statista.com /statistics/209249/purchase-figures-for-real-and-fake-christmas-trees-in-the-us/.
Mortenson, Eric. “Christmas Tree Production Down as Market Stabilizes.” Capital Press, 25 Aug. 2016, http://www.capitalpress.com/Business/20160825/christmas-tree-production-down- as-market-stabilizes.
Every year, my family has always bought a real Christmas tree, but this year we didn't. You stated that the supply of Christmas trees have decreased and the prices have gone up, and I can see how that is the case because when my family went looking for a Christmas tree, the prices were more expensive than they were last year and the selection of the trees were a lot smaller.
ReplyDeleteComing from a family that enjoys a real Christmas tree and the enjoyment of going to pick one out and cut it down, I had started to notice that there were more and more people who did not want to buy a fake tree or did not want to go out in the cold to pick one out. This year, I have noticed that although there are more people going with a real tree option instead of a fake one, there has been an increased number of of real trees being sent to stores pre-cut and ready for purchase, rather than some people going out to pick out their own Christmas tree instead. So I feel as though even if there was a decreased amount of artificial trees being sold, there is an increased number of pre-cut trees being put out for purchase. Even at a tree farm near my house they pre-cut the trees for you and put them in a heated barn so that you do not have to go out in the cold and cut one down yourself. I don't know if that's because there has been an increase in lazy people, or if it is because most of the time to get more people to purchase a live tree you have to make it more convenient for them to pick it out, no one wants to spend time doing it, almost as if it is a burden, rather than just going to the store and buying a fake one.
ReplyDeleteIt’s crazy how much revenue and money is being passed around during these times. Do you think people in other countries celebrate Christmas similar to us in America, as well as have similar economic impact? The way I see it is that people in America celebrate Christmas thinking gifts, gifts and more gifts. Is having a Christmas tree in your house decorated a tradition in other countries as well? My family uses a fake Christmas tree and has probably used it for as long as I can remember. People seem to like to have the real tree in their homes, but with less production of the trees, it seems like more people should buy fake ones to use and reuse in future years. I liked how you ended the blog because it basically summed it all up on a positive note. I was a little confused with the graph, but was assuming it had to do with the production and distribution of trees in Oregon. Overall I thought it was a fitting topic for the current time and was well crafted. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteMore recently, I have noticed that more places, even around the area that we live, are selling real Christmas trees. While these trees probably help people embrace the Christmas spirit even more, it feels like kind of a waste of money to me when you could be buying an artificial tree. It is nice that they create revenue and that more people want to buy them, but people might be losing money when buying a new, real tree each year. It might be beneficial for the economy if people are buying new trees, but it might not be better for the consumer’s wallet.
ReplyDeleteMy family also enjoys going to get a real Christmas tree and this year was no different. We went the day after Thanksgiving to the same place we always go to and there did seem to be less trees than the other years. I can believe that there is less of supply but still a high demand because I witnessed that this year. Even though there may have been a limited supply of trees everyone still wants a tree so there is still a very high demand.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite interesting that though daily life for many Americans has sped up drastically, the tradition of going out as a family and getting a tree has been continued by many families. These days, it us true that Christmas and how it is enjoyed has changed but it is fantastic to see families keep the tradition. Because of this, it makes it quite hard because it seems that companies are supplying less and less real trees and making it harder for the consumers even though the demand hasn't necessarily changed.
ReplyDeleteI liked your blog post, it goes along well with the season. I wish that my family got a real tree for Christmas instead of putting up the same artificial tree every year. It is weird that tree farms/ farmers are producing or growing less trees but there is still such a large demand for them. I also heard that real Christmas trees in New York City this year were crazy expensive like $700.
ReplyDelete