CHRISTMAS TREE SALES BRISK IN CAPE AREA

On one of the busiest days for Christmas tree sales, many area shoppers took their time Saturday before deciding which one they wanted for the holidays.

"I picked out three different trees, left, and when I came back they were already sold to someone else," Mary Meyer, who was surveying trees at the Kinder Christmas Tree lot, said. "The next one I see that I like I'm going to take."

Meyer, who was resplendent in holiday colors of red and white, topped off her outfit with a Christmas stocking cap. "This is the first time I'm helping out at this lot," she said.

"Before this year I used to come and spend hours looking at all of the trees before I made a decision."

"Some people will spend two or three minutes and others will take up to two hours," Dave Kinder, who has been in the Christmas tree business for 15 years, said.

"I remember one woman stood in the rain with an umbrella for over an hour before she decided which tree she wanted," Kinder said.

Meyer said she is beginning to see a pattern with some discriminating shoppers. "Women will come by themselves in the morning and then bring their husbands by later the same day," she said.

"I think sometimes they have a good idea which one they want, but they like to take a look by themselves before the final decision is made."

Trees at Kinder's lot, located in the Schnucks parking lot, range from $15 to $150. "The Cadillac is the blue spruce, which is the same tree that is in the White House," Kinder said. "That tree came from Holt, Mo., which is in Clinton County. A lot was made out of that by the press."

A Scotch pine with roots that can be planted in a yard will run about $75. With a stand it could go as high as $85 or $95.

There are Douglas firs, Norway spruce and Bernice holly trees. "The Bernice holly stays red during the winter and then turns green during the spring," Kinder said.

Kinder has added a sleigh at the front of the lot. The sleigh is complete with reindeer fashioned out of logs, twigs and red bows. There is a Santa and snowman and various ornaments to make the display stand out.

"It just makes the lot look more like Christmas and gets people more in the mood for the holidays," Kinder said.

Kinder's trees are transported to Cape Girardeau from Cadillac, Mich. "I'll probably have about 1,500 brought in before I'm ready to close," he said.

"I'm expecting to have one of the best years ever because of the economy being better and it seems more people are out shopping this season."

The Koch Christmas tree lot, located in front of the Cape Small Animal Clinic off William Street, sells Scotch pine trees ranging from $13 to $24. Trees at the Koch lot are grown in the Southeast Missouri area.

Christmas trees at the Evening Optimist lot on William Street range from $10 to $40. There are home-grown trees and others that come from as far away as Nova Scotia, Canada.

"One of the more popular trees here is the balsam," Laura Poole, who works at the Optimist lot, said. "A lot of people say they like to buy that kind of tree because it reminds them of the tree they had when they were growing up."