Christmas tree sales down

Press, 19 December 1980, Page 18

Christmas tree sales down

This year it seems that many Christchurch people prefer to have an artificial Christmas tree in their homes, or :io tree at all. Christchurch Round Tables held their annual tree sale on Saturday and sold 5500, which was 2000 fewer than last year. “The tables are more cautious this year. Last year some trees were left over,” said the Christchurch area chairman of Round Table, Keith Peacock. The trees were priced at $2. Mr Peacock said he had not been in touch with all

the tables to Inquire how sales had gone.Ayson’s garden, paint, and hardware shop is one of the few retail shops which stock natural Christmas trees. This year it has sold 10 at $1.99 “Sales are slow; last Saturday was our biggest day,” said a spokeswoman for the shop. Many service stations sell trees, mostly about $2. But they, too, report only avers age sales. “We have sold about 50 for $l.BO, which is about half of last year’s sales,” said Mr Bruce Reid, of Bruce Reid Motors.

Tree sales at Ron Rutherford Motors have been “about the same as last year.” Sates of artificial tree? vary from shop to shop, 1 ranging from “exceptional” to “not very good.” The manager of FarmersHaywrights Cashel Street store, Mr A. H. Hood, said sales of artificial trees and decorations were “very satisfactory.” Decorations had been selling extremely well at D.1.C.-Beaths, according to a spokeswoman there. Smaller trees up to 1.2 m, which cost up to $17.95 depending on size and whether they were

tinsel or plastic, were selling well. Demand for bigger trees was not as great. Christmas trees had not gone well at the Fanners Trading Company’s Worcester Street store, said the head of the store’s hardware divinsion, Mr L. C. Redding. However, this might have been because of a mix-up in Which trees at Worcester Street were priced at $1025 and $18.50, yet were $7.50 and $10.50 at the Riccarton branch. Mr Redding said decorations were selling well. Woolworths also reported good sales of trees and decorations.