Santa and Sons provides Christmas trees amid supply shortage

Environmental effects coupled with delivery chain delays leave holiday tree sellers with low inventory.

By Isaac Dektor, News Editor

Mark Rohlfs, Owner of Santa & Sons Christmas Trees poses for a photograph among his Oregon grown trees available for purchase at his annual pop up shop hosted in parking lot G of Los Angeles Valley College. Nov. 28. 2021. Valley College. (Luis Flores/ The Valley Star)

While the country grapples with supply chain and environmental issues, for Valley College, festive firs have never been closer.

Christmas tree supply will be lower this year than in years prior due to supply chain issues and climate change according to CNBC. Demand for Christmas trees is expected to rise due to larger gatherings over the holidays following increased vaccination rates. Some environmental and economic experts believe there could be a shortage of trees this season.

Katherine Svoboda is a resident of Los Angeles and has worked for Santa and Sons for 27 years.

“I like [Nordmann Firs] because it looks like there’s snow on them,” Svoboda said while pointing out the waxy quality of the trees that makes them more durable than other firs.

Santa and Sons opened their lot to customers last week and will operate until they sell out of trees.

Crewmen load a Christmas tree on to a customer's car in parking lot G at Valley College. Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. (Los Angeles, California/Ryan Beauchamp/The Valley Star)

Valley College students and members of the local community can pick up their trees from Santa and Sons, which is hosting their Christmas tree sale in lot “G” this year. Customers can hear Christmas music softly playing out of speakers set up at the entrance, in a lot ornamented with three trailers, two of which serve as living quarters for the staff that traveled in from Oregon. The third trailer operates as an office for the staff and is painted a blue gradient with red curtains over the windows. A merry Santa Claus painted on the office smiles over customers browsing the hundreds of trees in the lot. In addition to being open for in-person shopping, Santa and Sons is offering a virtual shopping experience called U-Pick Webcam Service this Holiday season. The Christmas tree lot is providing consumers with a contactless way of shopping, emphasizing the company’s commitment to safety amid the pandemic.

Supplied by their environmentally certified tree farm located near the base of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon, Santa and Sons was named one of the best Christmas tree lots in Los Angeles by LA Magazine multiple times, most recently in 2020.