The sky’s the limit for Christmas tree sales in Northeast Pennsylvania this holiday season.
Many customers heading to farms and stands throughout the region seek towering trees for their homes, several owners say.
Joe Simoncelli, owner of Simoncelli Tree Farm, which has a retail stand on Route 6 and 11 in South Abington Twp. – just outside Clarks Summit – has been selling a lot of big trees.
“We have sizes up to 30 feet,” he said. “A lot of people are buying larger trees, so they’re a little scarce right now.”
While the price of the larger trees is a bit elevated due to increased demand, it remains pretty flat for most others, Simoncelli said.
“It depends on the tree – if it’s a Fraser fir they’re up a little bit, especially if it’s more than nine or 10 feet,” he said. “The prices go up because they’re kind of a scarce commodity and a hot item.”
Simoncelli noted Fraser firs, under 10 feet, will cost customers about $10 to $11 per foot – approximately $60 to $66 for a six foot tree.
For Fraser fir trees taller than 10 feet, the cost increases to about $12 per foot, he said.
“When they become scarce, you have to bump the price up,” Simoncelli said. “It takes a long time to replace them if you have big sales – you’re talking at least 8 to 10 years of growing. They (cost) a little more than last year, but not a lot.”
Simoncelli added most of the other varieties like Douglas and Concolor fir are essentially the same price as last year – between $9 to $10 per footl.
After unfavorable weather a year ago, Simoncelli stressed conditions were much better in 2024.
“The growing season was very good this year,” he said. “The season before was not good; we got hit with a late frost which really does a lot of damage to the trees and you lose almost a year’s growth. But this year we had good rain and no frost.”
Simoncelli added the process for growing Christmas trees at his family farm near Clifford spans many years.
“Other than the dead of winter, it’s pretty much a year-round business,” he said. “You plant in the spring, you have to mow, you have to keep diseases out and spray certain trees, and you have to trim the trees. It’s a long process – it’s not like planting corn where you plant it in the spring and harvest it in the fall. You plant it and you have to wait probably eight to 10 years before you have a product available to sell.”
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Owner Joe Simoncelli, left, and Ben Kubic of Clarks Summit bale a tree for a customer at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Ben Kubic of Clarks Summit moves a tree for a customer at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Christmas trees are seen at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Christmas trees are seen at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Christmas trees are seen at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Owner Joe Simoncelli prepares a tree for a customer at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Ben Kubic of Clarks Summit carries a tree for a customer at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Owner Joe Simoncelli, right, and Ben Kubic of Clarks Summit bale a tree for a customer at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Ben Kubic of Clarks Summit secures a tree to the roof of a customer’s car at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Ben Kubic of Clarks Summit prepares a tree for a customer at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Owner Joe Simoncelli, left, and Ben Kubic of Clarks Summit bale a tree for a customer at the Simoncelli Farm Christmas tree stand on North State Street in Clarks Summit on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2024.(Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer)
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Simoncelli began selling trees in the Abingtons in 1987 and enjoys the camaraderie with customers.
“Everybody seems to be in a good, festive mood. It’s just the tradition of Christmas,” he said.
Customers won’t be able to purchase Christmas trees at Roba Family Farms in North Abington Twp. this December, but they are available at Roba’s sister location, Lakeland Orchard & Cidery in Scott Twp., said Jeff Roba, co-owner of Roba’s.
After running two operations for several years, Roba determined it made more sense logistically to limit sales to Lakeland where the cut-your-own tree option has been available.
“It’s a lot more efficient on our end to just sell everything at one place,” he said. “We finally have some lights over at Lakeland so it allows us to stay open a little bit later at night for people to get a tree after work.”
Roba states sales have been strong during the first week – up about 5% to 10% over last year – and credits the late date of Thanksgiving for part of the increase.
“When the calendar resets like that you typically see a little more sales right when you open because people are itching to get their trees,” he said.
Customers also have been looking for larger trees at Lakeland as the property already sold out of its biggest trees, Roba said.
“Supply is good, but not great,” he said. “The one thing we’re lacking is bigger trees – the tallest we have is nine feet. Big trees are really hard to come by, if you can find them at all, and they’re super expensive. And, to grow them ourselves, we don’t have the ability to keep the trees on the property that long. The biggest we can typically grow are nine to 10 feet.”
Prices for most trees are comparable to last year, Roba said.
“It varies based on size and species, but blue spruce are probably the cheapest trees – about $8 a foot – and at the top end, the Fraser firs are about $12 per foot,” he said.
Roba estimates Fraser’s make up about two-thirds of all Christmas tree sales at Lakeland as the tree is ideal for the holiday.
“It has the right shape, the right scent, the right color, and the needles are soft but the branches are stiff to hold heavy ornaments,” he said.
The business typically sells about 3,000 trees per year, primarily to local customers, which makes the connection rewarding, Roba said.
“We know there are thousands of families – who are close neighbors – that have one of our trees in their house,” he said. “They’re all going to gather around it on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, and that’s what’s most special.”
In Luzerne County, Kathleen Malak, owner of Pine Tree Farm in Jackson Twp., was encouraged by the strong start to the season and believes customers appreciate the uniqueness of natural trees.
“For one thing, they’re different every year,” Malak said. “If you’re using an artificial tree year after year, it’s always going to look the same. I think it’s nice to pick a different type every year and I think they like cutting them down themselves.”
Pine Tree usually sells about 500 trees each year with Fraser fir and blue spruce as the most popular species, Malak said.
While the farm is typically busiest during the first full weekend of December, Malak believes the busy weekend following Thanksgiving may lead to even stronger overall sales this holiday season.
The price for all standard-size cut and choose trees, up to around 10 feet, is $62 – up from about $55 last year – and increases to $87 for oversized trees, Malak said. She added customers who pay with cash receive a $2 discount. The price for pre-cut trees ranges from $25 to $75.
Rising costs around the farm led to the slight increase, Malak said.
“Everything goes up,” she said. “We plant in the spring and even the seedlings really increased in price.”
As the days inch closer to Christmas, Malak cherishes the interactions with families – specifically the little kids.
“A lot of them bring their children, so I get to hand out candy canes, and they remember that from the year before,” she said.