Christmas Tree Sales Soar

THORNTOWN, Ind. -- While the economy is forcing millions of people to cut back giving this holiday season, the sale of one holiday staple appears to be up.

At about eight feet and 20 pounds, the Christmas tree seems to be a hot commodity this year, 6News' Sarah Cornell reported.

While each shopper's criteria for the perfect tree differs, the reason for buying real instead of artificial is the same.

"It just feels more like Christmas," said one eager shopper.

Kerry Dull, who owns Dull's Christmas Tree Farm, said she sells about 2,400 trees a year but was prepared for sales to plummet this year.

"You hear all the news stories about how the businesses were doing poorly this Christmas season," Dull said. "That tends to lead to how we are going to do this Christmas season."

Dull said people have been at the farm in droves since the week after Christmas, boosting sales about 25 percent so far compared to last year.

"When you are a tree farm that is well established … you sort of plateau," Dull said. "We only have a certain number of trees that we can sell each year, so that … is a big increase."

The Indiana Christmas Tree Farmers Association said that more people are buying real trees this year statewide.

Experts aren't sure why real trees are more in demand this year, but speculated that environmental concerns or cost savings could be primary factors. Real trees are about three times less expensive than artificial trees.