Early holiday season sales showing good signs for C.O. Christmas tree lots

(Update: Adding video, comments from tree lots, Bend residents)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Christmas tree lots have come to life in Central Oregon, with several locations in Bend and Redmond.

For Bend residents like the Shoops, they are repeat customers for the Vegetable Man Trees in Bend. 

Kim Shoop said, "We go to the Christmas tree lots every year. I usually go to this guy here, because I go get my vegetables here during the summer."

Her husband, Daniel Shoop, added: "Plus, he's really close."

The Vegetable Man Trees has three locations in Bend, and business is going smoothly. 

Co-owner Andrea Couch said, "Sales are doing really well. We're actually up about 15% over last year so far."

 This year, the company also has been able to reduce most of their prices. 

Couch said, "We have not raised not one price, so that's great news. The reason for that is because the supply is increasing. There's been a shortage of Christmas trees over the last, like five or six years. And now that's coming up. So we're passing the savings along to the customer."

Another Christmas tree lot is The Candy Cane Christmas Tree Company, also locally owned and operated, with five locations, four in Bend and one in Redmond.

Owner Ron Burger said the company started their operations early, on November 23rd, and is seeing a higher volume of sales. 

"I think a lot of it has to do with two factors," Burger said. "One, the window that we have, with the early Thanksgiving, and then the other being there's so much snow in the mountains that there's not as many people going out and harvesting a tree locally out of the forest."

Trees start as low as $35 and can go up to a 12-foot tree, which would be close to $500.

Supporting locally owned and operated tree lots goes further than you think. 

Burger said, "You're touching the farmer, the local farmer to the retailer, to the truck drivers that bring the the trees over to us. So that's, it seems like a lot better way to go to help the economy, the local economy, rather than maybe buying something that's artificial, that's going to end up in a landfill."

For more tree options, there's also T and T Christmas Trees on Century Drive in Bend, as well as the Fox Trees lot in Redmond.