Christmas tree sales on the rise in Beaufort County, merchants say

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in households across Beaufort County.

After five years of waning Christmas tree sales around the county, families flocked to farms and lots this past weekend. Both of Beaufort County's Christmas tree farms listed in the S.C. Christmas Tree Association directory said sales are on the rise.

A&A Christmas Tree Farm in Okatie sold nearly 500 trees after opening Friday -- about half of what the farm sold all of last season, owner Jerry Youngblood said. On Lady's Island, the Family Tree Christmas Farm was so busy all weekend that owner Milledge Morris didn't have time to count receipts, he said Monday.

Morris, who has operated his tree farm since 1981, said the economic downturn and an increase in vendors caused a steep drop in his sales after 2009. They continued to lag through last year, but picked up this weekend.

"I'm getting back to where I was before the recession," he said. "It looks like sales have turned a corner."

Roadside merchants that dot the county also reported strong sales. Shirley McIntosh, who runs a lot on U.S. 278 in Bluffton with her husband, Jerry, said they had sold about 100 trees over the weekend, a large jump in their sales since opening Nov. 20.

The retired Kentucky couple began selling trees at the lot at the Island Visitors Center three years ago, after selling trees in Georgia. She said business has been good enough for them to keep returning to the area.

Both farms and many of the local merchants like McIntosh import Fraser firs, a commonly used Christmas tree from North Carolina. The trees are held up with metal poles, giving families the chance to examine and choose a tree, unlike the trees sold at chain stores that are typically bundled for sale, Youngblood said.

The farms also have "choose and cut" trees, allowing families to cut down their own tree using a bow saw. It's an experience that chain stores or the roadside merchants can't offer, Morris said.

Although Morris has a strong base of repeat customers, he said many of the customers at his farm this weekend were new. He thinks many of them were service members or recent veterans, new residents home for the holidays because of recent troop drawdowns overseas.

"I'd bet money that the nice, clean-cut and strong customers choosing trees this weekend were in the military," he said.

Youngblood said the late Thanksgiving holiday the past two years has helped sales, because it shortens the tree-purchase period by up to a week.

"The late Thanksgiving makes people want to go right out and get a tree," he said. "With an earlier Thanksgiving, people think they have plenty of time to go out and get one."

Although Youngblood said he was initially concerned about tree sales at places such as Lowe's and Walmart, the memories made on tree farms still give him the upper hand.

"We care for our trees and import ones that our competitors don't do," he said. "There is an experience out here. Many of the families who come have kids and want them to cut the tree down. Even the standing Frasers are a family experience."

Follow reporter Matt McNab at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.

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This story was originally published December 1, 2014 at 8:57 PM with the headline "Christmas tree sales on the rise in Beaufort County, merchants say."