DAMASCUS, Ore. — Expect higher prices at your local Christmas tree lot this year as nationwide supply chain issues continue to disrupt the holiday shopping season.
John Karam, co-owner of Tony's Garden Center in Damascus, said supply has been pretty tight for tree growers — so much so that he had to adjust his prices, as local growers charged more for trees this year.
"So just following the cost of the trees, I think this year it was further exasperated by the heatwave we had," said Karam.
Christmas tree grower Mark Schmidlin explained that after June's record-breaking heat wave, trees suffered on his Washington County farm.
"There are thousands of trees on this farm that have been damaged in the matter that's going to render them unsalable," he said.
Schmidlin not alone.
The extraordinary heatwave damaged thousands Christmas trees in Oregon. That combined with supply chain and labor issues has dealt a harsh blow to the industry.
In addition, shipments of artificial trees were delayed this year because of issues including a shortage of truck drivers to deliver them.
Experts say tree buyers should expect to pay 10% to 30% more for both live and artificial trees this year, and also expect a smaller selection.
