The day after Thanksgiving marks the traditional day for Christmas tree trimming, and grocers and big-box retailers turned a steady pace of Mainland firs Friday. The Big Save in Lihu‘e unloaded 275 firs from a truck — about the same
The day after Thanksgiving marks the traditional day for Christmas tree trimming, and grocers and big-box retailers turned a steady pace of Mainland firs Friday.
The Big Save in Lihu‘e unloaded 275 firs from a truck — about the same number the store sold last year, said Rose Tremaine, produce manager.
“This is it,” she said, surveying the stock of fragrant trees, which she said would probably sell within a week.
Cars lined up outside Kmart, idling while their owners helped workers mount trees on their roofs with twine.
More than half of the store’s supply — Mainland specimens shipped in 20- and 40-foot shipping containers — sold during a two-day spree, said Kmart employee Chris Smith.
Kapa‘a resident Bonnie Hassan bought a tree to share with her boyfriend.
“He’s a fanatic about Christmas, and he loves the smell,” she said.
That piney fragrance is one of the factors — perhaps one of the most evident — separating the imported firs from the locally grown Norfolk Island Pine, a variety harvested by vendors like Carol Kimura of Kalaheo Flowers and Gardens.
The density, color and height of the trees vary, Kimura said, and these are the elements that affect the prices, which run from $18 to $50.
Her husband cuts the trees from a portion of the 11 acres that supply the nursery with its flowers and other produce, Kimura said.
“We only cut what seems to be going,” she said. “What seems to make the difference is how many Mainland trees come in.”
The supply of Noble, Grand, Douglas and Fraser firs varies year to year, with a noted glut in 2003 followed by a shortage in 2004.
