Wisconsin State Journal
Order a coat - and your Christmas tree - from Lands' End
October 23, 2008
Judy Newman
Lands' End may be all about polo shirts, chino pants and squall jackets.
But for the Christmas shopping season, the Dodgeville apparel retailer is branching out, taking a foray into the forest.
For the first time, fresh Christmas trees are one of the items in the Lands' End holiday home catalog.
It's not a big stretch for the clothing and home accessories merchant, said Lands' End spokeswoman Michele Casper. The company has been selling fresh Christmas wreaths and garlands for about 10 years, she said. Lands' End also has offered artificial trees — faux Calgary fir and Clearwater pine — for two years.
"This was just a natural extension for us," said Casper.
The Fraser fir trees are grown in North Carolina. Prices range from $129.50 to $299.50, depending on size, plus shipping costs. They'll be available Nov. 14 through Dec. 12.
"The tree is cut fresh that day, then wrapped in a water-resistent carton and shipped right away," Casper said. UPS will deliver the tree within three to five days, along with a biodegradable bag for later disposal.
"We feel our customers are really going to respond to this. It adds to their ease and convenience" during the hectic holiday season, Casper said.
In Wisconsin, where Christmas tree farms are a $50 million-a-year industry, ordering a tree online may seem a bit strange. But nationwide, it's not uncommon, said Rick Dungey, public relations manager for the National Christmas Tree Association, based in Chesterfield, Mo. "It's no different than ordering books from Amazon.com," he said.
The association lists more than 50 growers offering online ordering, including three from Wisconsin: Bentz Road Farm in Pleasant Prairie, Lowes Creek Tree Farm in Eleva and Tate's Tree Co. in Hancock.
Online gift merchants, such as Harry & David, have been offering fresh trees for delivery for years, Dungey said. In fact, that's how he buys Christmas trees.
"You point, you click and it shows up on your front door. Fantastic," Dungey said. "It looks just as good as any other tree."
Nationwide, 31.3 million households bought a fresh Christmas tree in 2007, up from 28.6 million in 2006 but down slightly from the 32.8 million trees sold in 2005, according to the association. Internet purchases made up 4 percent of the sales in 2006. No statistics were available for 2007.
Will Wisconsin's nearly 1,400 Christmas tree farmers feel snubbed that Lands' End, a Wisconsin company that's part of Sears Holdings, is arranging for tree sales from the southern Appalachian Mountain region?
In years past, it might have needled him, said Bill Summers, of Summers Christmas Tree Farm in the town of Middleton, where customers have been able to choose a tree and cut it down themselves for the past 50 years.
Southern Appalachia is where the Fraser firs originated, Summers said.
Besides, "for us, they're covering a little different part of the market," he said.
Tags: Christmas Coat Christmas Tree Land's End Clothing Land's End Coats
