The American Christmas Tree Association reports the average price of a Christmas tree is up 10% this year, landing between $80 and $100.
That surge in prices is noticeable among Montana vendors, and Roots Garden owner Jon Switzer said it's become more of an issue in the past few years.
"Trying to find Christmas trees has been, over the last couple years, an incredible challenge because of supply and demand," Switzer said. "There's a lot of challenges in our economy that Americans are feeling everywhere."
Switzer, who opened Roots Garden three years ago in the same location as the old Billings Nursery building, said that he originally wasn't planning on selling Christmas trees.
"We just kind of had the idea that we'd close up shop at the end of the fall," Switzer said. "But we got a lot of phone calls that first year from people that were asking if we'd be continuing it."
The Billings Nursery was a popular place for families to buy their trees and when Switzer realized how badly people still wanted to buy them in a familiar spot, he knew they needed to make it happen.
"Historically, this place, this facility has been kind of iconic for buying trees," Switzer said. "It was just kind of a fun community thing that contributed to our experience here."
But as soon as Switzer made the decision to continue the annual sale, he said times became challenging.
Shipping costs and supply and demand issues have driven the prices up, but fortunately, Switzer said they got creative to combat the issues.
"I'm proud to say that we didn't raise any prices this year," Switzer said. "We've been able to mitigate some of the cost and expenses from that price point. We know that times are harder. I'm really grateful that here at Roots we've been able to change the conversation from price to value."
Part of their fortune stems from the fact that there are other options at their business besides just trees.
Still, Switzer said their primary focus is on the value of the experience, knowing that his business is continuing a tradition that's gone on for years.
"We just wanted to extend that heritage and continue that tradition for people and their families," Switzer said. "It's pretty exciting to be able to offer them and help people have a great Christmas experience at Roots."
