TREE SALES BRISKER THAN WEATHER

Weather over the weekend did little to instill the yuletide spirit but may have made the task of selecting a Christmas tree a bit more pleasant.

"It's been great," Dave Kinder, operator of a Christmas tree lot in front of Schnucks on S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, said of the warm weekend weather.

"We've been swamped all morning. Usually on Sunday we don't have any customers until 12. Today we sold 40 before noon."

With temperatures in the mid-60s, it may not have begun to look a lot like Christmas but the lack of traditional holiday scenery and climate did not keep tree hunters at home.

"When it's like this people take more time to shop. If it's cold they come in and grab a tree quickly," Kinder said.

Jim Arnzen, who works at the Optimist Club stand at the Town Plaza on William Street, said it has been busy but thinks a drop in the mercury will warm people up to the season.

"When it gets a little colder it gets people more in the mood to buy trees," Arnzen said.

Marion Tucker at Schwab's Pines on William Street next to Pizza Inn said business is starting to pick up. The stand opened right after Thanksgiving to sparse demand but tree season is nearing its peak.

"Right now we're doing about what we did last year" concerning sales, Tucker said. "I would say it is about tree for tree."

He expects next weekend -- about two weeks away from Christmas -- to be the busiest. People still come in at the last minute, he said, but after next week sales will start to slow down.

Kinder said he will go through over a thousand trees before Christmas. Tucker expects to sell around 700 trees if it turns into a slow year and 900 for a strong showing.

And evergreen applies to more than pine trees. Tree sellers expect to pull in a goodly profit before Dec. 25. Small trees run as little as $10 but 15-foot Douglass firs can cost up to $200.

Although a wide variety of trees are available, Scotch pines in the 6-foot range are the most popular. Price-wise, one can expect to pay $30 to $45 dollars for such a selection.

Arnzen said balsams, a smaller and less expensive variety, have been popular at the Optimist stand.

"This year it seems they have been going a little better than the others. They really have today at least," Arnzen said.

Kinder said it is important to cut the bottom of the tree's trunk off before putting it up in your home. The importance of doing so is that it enables the tree to absorb water and prevents it from quickly drying out. The average tree will drink about a quart a day for about a week before stopping, he said.

Many stands will cut the trunk for buyers prior to loading it up.