Christmas tree lots see busiest week

Natural or artificial? Big or small? These questions are weighing on many minds Sunday as the Christmas crunch begins.

All day at the Fred Meyer Tree Lot in Idaho Falls there was a constant stream of people wandering the lot in search of the perfect tree.

“A lot of people go back to kind of childhood memories,” said Jim Davis, who mans the lot. “They like to have a live tree in the home.”

Greg Hansen and Tausha Rasmussen are buying their second Christmas tree as a couple.

“It wouldn’t be Christmas without one, that’s for sure,” said Hansen. “It just brings the good smell of Christmas season into your house.”

If it’s smell you’re looking for, Davis says you might consider one of Fred Meyer’s grand firs.

“Those tend to be more fragrant. Kind of denser,” he explained.

But noble firs are the tree for you if you’re into decorating.

“The branching’s a little heavier so you can put a little heavier ornamentation on there,” said Davis.

It’s not just big retailers cashing in on the Christmas game. Nick Roberts and his brother are selling trees in Ammon for the fourth year in a row.

“We’ve been pretty busy,” said Roberts. “Even with this really cold weather we’ve had a lot of people come out.”

Only one week into December, customers have just about cleaned the Roberts’ tree lot out.

“We started with about 250 trees and we have about 100 to 125 left,” said Roberts.

As their sign proclaims, the Roberts’ trees are fresh from Oregon. They say they drive them over themselves.

The Roberts brothers aren’t the only ones looking to Oregon for this quintessential symbol of Christmas joy. Fred Meyer’s trees are also from Oregon.

“Oregon’s really noted for their Christmas trees, at least in this part of the country,” said Davis.