Do the cold temperatures have more people buying real Christmas trees this year?

LINCOLNVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) – The holiday season is here – with cold temperatures making it feel like Christmas time – and you may be getting ready to pick out the perfect Christmas tree for your home.

Do the colder temperatures have an impact on tree lots?

It’s snowing on Frosty Avenue over on Mistletoe Lane. While it’s not exactly real snow, it is enough to put a smile on a child’s face. The tree lot located in the Lincolnville community is seeing a boom in business this season.

“We opened up about a week and a half, two weeks ago. We’ve been selling for 10 years here,” said Robert Zdenek, owner of the Tree Lot on Mistletoe Lane. “This year seems to be one of the best years ever. We’ve already sold half of our stock- we will probably be out in about a week and a half to two weeks, this year looked the best ever.”

And believe it or not, Zdenek said as the temperatures drop, his Christmas trees prefer that over milder temperatures.

“The trees love the cold so it’s great to have cold weather for us. When it’s warm here, the trees don’t like that so the colder it is the better it is for the Christmas trees,” he said.

But maybe not so much for the employees.

“Yeah, low 20s. We’ve got some guys that work for me who are from the north and we’ve got a few people from the south, so they’re pretty cold. So, we’ve always got a fire burning.”

As it gets below freezing, Robert says he does have to move many of his flowering plants inside. He packs them inside their storage buildings and some even inside his home to keep them a little warmer.

“You know the cold weather, people coming out in shorts — the true Southerners are coming out in shorts this year, so it’s just been a great year so far, everybody’s in a great mood.”

The tree lot on Mistletoe Lane is planning to be open until about Dec. 18.