Live Christmas trees now available online

Internet shopping can be a boon for busy, stressed holiday revelers, and now even the live Christmas tree can be ordered online for home delivery.

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is selling fresh Christmas trees, wreaths and garlands over the Internet this season. The items are not available in its stores, only through Target.com.

You pay - a lot - for the convenience, though. Target.com offers Fraser firs ranging in price from $79.99 for a 4.5-foot to 6-foot tree up to $159.99 for an 8.5-foot to 9-foot tree. Wreaths range from $39.99 to $59.99, depending on size, and 25 feet of garland costs $39.99.

Shipping is free, but those prices are at least double what you'd pay if you shop yourself locally for fresh holiday trees and greens.

That's partly why Corridor tree farms and non-profit organizations don't expect this to affect their sales.

Margaret Handley of Handley's Holiday Hillside in Solon said Christmas trees just aren't something people will buy sight unseen over the Internet.

“Christmas trees are a thing of nature,” said Handley, who has been selling Christmas trees since 1976. “We try to make them look as good as they can, but there's likely to be a hole. That's the challenge of decorating a tree.”

Plus, she added, “We have a lot of customers who make buying their Christmas tree a family outing.”

Mary Jansen of Marion said that kind of personal involvement is more important to her than the price or the convenience of online shopping.

“I might spend that much at a local tree lot, but I would want to see it before I would buy it,” Jansen said. “My daughter and I always go and get our tree together, so she would be unhappy if she wasn't involved.”

Target did not respond to a Gazette request for information regarding who is supplying the trees and how they will be shipped.

Rollie Pierson, manager of Pierson's Flower Shop and Greenhouses, 1961 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE in Cedar Rapids, said the customer is at a disadvantage buying wreaths online.

“You get what you pay for,” Pierson said. “You won't notice it when you're looking at a wreath online, but you will see it when you pick up a wreath in person. Some evergreens will last a lot longer, depending on whether a wreath is hung inside or outside.”

The Optimist Club of Iowa City has sold Christmas trees and wreaths for more than 50 years at the Dairy Queen on Riverside Drive. Past President Tim Sullivan said the organization, which sells about 1,250 Christmas trees over a two-week period each year, isn't worried by online competition.

“We have very loyal customers who know that the money from our tree sales stays in the community,” Sullivan said. “We generate about $20,000 of profit each year that we distribute to youth-friendly organizations in the community.”

The Optimist Club of Cedar Rapids sells about 300 Christmas trees each year in the parking lot of the Collins Road Hy-Vee Food Store. Club member Steve Menzner was not surprised to hear Target.com is getting into the act.

“Retailers are getting into everything,” Menzner said. “I think we will still be very competitive with our 5-foot trees selling for about half of what Target.com is asking for their trees.

“We aren't trying to make money on the trees,” he added, also noting the loyalty of customers who know the money helps community youths.

For Jeremy Elges of Ely, the idea of buying a fresh Christmas tree online for less than two months of use doesn't make sense.

“I'm not too much in favor of cutting down trees just for ornamental purposes,” Elges said. “It seems really odd that someone would pay that much for something they would only use for a couple of months. I'll just keep bringing my artificial Christmas tree up from the basement.”