Remember that the number one message from your customers is “freshness matters a lot.” By providing it, the independent retailers help the entire industry maintain customer acceptance of real Christmas trees.

If customers lose their sense of value about the Christmas tree, then the tradition could become passe’, a hassle best avoided, just a thing of the past, or even worse, a wasteful embarrassment. For the industry to find continued success, the tradition and the image need to be nurtured to maintain that sense of value customers still place in the product.

Grower-Retailer Relationships

Growers and retailers’ interests overlap in substantial and significant ways. But increasing cooperation between the parties hinges on an appreciation of the challenges the other party faces.

For those used to a rural lifestyle, it is very difficult to appreciate the hurdles involved in placing a high volume, temporary business into today’s cities. Similarly, few retailers have much of an understanding of the complexities and difficulties involved in managing Christmas tree fields.

It requires a spirit of cooperation and a willingness to work together to improve grower-retailer relationships. So what can be done to encourage such cooperation?

The optimum arrangement is when established retailers develop long term relations with established growers. This type of relationship is characterized by cooperation on many of the following issues.

Availability

Ideally, growers must have trees to sell on a consistent basis. But that does not make it a simple issue – particularly for small growers.

Even age stands, varying climates and the complexities of crop rotations make it impractical for any one supplier to produce all the different sizes and species a retail lot needs every year. But solid grower - retailer relationships can work out arrangements to match a guaranteed future supply of trees to a proven ongoing market.

Timeliness

Here’s an issue that runs both ways. The peak sales periods that occur on weekends account for over half of total sales at most retail lots. Delays in shipments can cause lost sales that are not recoverable. Retailers absolutely must have the full product line during those key weekends if they are to be successful.

While harvest mishaps and foul weather can happen without warning, retailers’ must have confidence that growers will be prepared with adequate facilities and manpower to make timely shipments

Retailers can help with responsible actions of their own. Timely payments are to be expected as agreed upon. If there are concerns with the trees upon delivery, retailers must contact growers immediately to work out any problems.

When the buyer is responsible for providing trucks, coordinating loading schedules with a grower is critical to assure on-time deliveries. Buyers can also help by providing written purchase orders with realistic quantities and mixes they expect to put on a truck. Quality trees take up more room, tall trees eat up space quickly and the mix needs to match the reality in the field.

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