BY LARRY GRARD

Staff Writer

The credit crunch has made it more difficult for roadside retailers to buy Christmas trees, according to the Maine Christmas Tree Association.

"Retailers can't get credit," said Joanne Bond, secretary-treasurer of the Christmas Tree Association, in West Newfield. "Out-of-staters can't get it, either."

The association represents 150 members across Maine, with its wholesalers operating mostly out of northern Maine, Bond said.

Trees are selling slowly -- perhaps a result of the poor economy. One dealer in Machias is selling wholesale at $8 per tree, Bond said.

"In the past, we have sold out of trees by the first of November," she said. "This year I've got many growers who still have trees. My calls have been way, way down. I've gotten about 20 percent of the calls I usually get for wholesale trees."

A downturn can usually mean an upturn for someone, however.

Rome resident and tree salesman Todd Murphy, who grows his own trees and manages Skip Hammond's Belgrade farm, said he is benefiting from the vacuum in the area wholesale market.

"I'm the only one in it, and I provide a full service," Murphy said recently, after loading 500 trees for an Ellsworth nursery in the cold rain. "I'll get them to you."

Murphy manages the 40-50 acres owned by Hammond, 81, who is getting out of the wholesale business. He also owns and manages Trees to Please, in Norridgewock and Rome.

'Can't make money wholesale'

Walter Gooley of Farmington and Bryant LaPlante have all but gotten out of the wholesale business, opting for "choose and cut."

Gooley said he used to pay high school students $10 an hour to cut and load trees, but they were unreliable. He was selling them wholesale at his farm on Route 27 for about $15.

"You can't make any money wholesale, so we have a cut-and-choose operation at our farm and a retail stand in West Farmington," Gooley said.

Aaron Hassen, marketing manager for Georgia-based Christmas Lights Etc., said reports show consumers are trending toward artificial trees for long-term cost reasons. Hassen's customers also are big on buying Energy Star LED lights that are cheaper to operate

"Many shop online to get a deal on both," Hassen said.

Buying a fake tree isn't necessarily the cheaper option in the short term, however.

Artificial trees that might cost $100 or more at Wal-Mart pose a problem for cash-strapped families, said Bond, of the growers' association.

"Some people will go down cellar and find that artificial tree and set it up, or go with a tabletop tree," she said.

Families go to Holmes Tree Farm on Crosby Road in Albion for the real thing, however.

Cost vs. tradition

Holmes has quality trees for $30 or $35, according to MaryKate Friend, who helps her father, Allen Holmes, at the farm.

"I still see people coming out as families to purchase a tree," Friend said. "You can tell it is still a tradition in some families to do, especially those with younger children."

The Craig family of Waterville gets into the Christmas spirit early.

Libby and Joseph Craig ushered in the season for their three little boys nearly a month before the big day. They made their customary stop to the Pleau's parking lot in Winslow to buy a tree from Robert Peaslee, who sets up shop there every year.

The Craigs might have been bucking a trend in buying a real tree, but to them, it was a no-brainer. They gladly handed over $35 for a balsam fir and went back for a wreath before they headed home.

"Artificial? No way," Libby Craig said. "With real trees, you get the smell."

Joseph Craig chimed in that the thought of buying artificial, to him, "is just awful."

Sons Evan, 6, Cody, 4, and Aaron, 2, scampered about the lot as Ray Smith loaded the Craigs' tree onto their Dodge Durango. Their father was not concerned about keeping a real tree in his living room for a month.

"They usually last OK with water," he said. "We sweep up underneath it once in a while."

Smith said that Peaslee, from Whitefield, sells about 500 trees from the Winslow lot, at prices ranging from $25 to $40. He purchases many of his balsam firs from Robbins Lumber in Searsmont.

Peaslee hasn't raised his prices. "You can't go up with this economy," Smith said.

The second weekend in December is usually the busiest, he said. Peaslee and Smith keep the business open "24/7," in part to guard against thefts.

"You knock on the trailer at midnight, and we'll sell you one," Smith said.

Larry Grard -- 861-9239

lgrard@centralmaine.com