Christmas Tree Biz Steady Amongst Economic Turmoil

There's nothing like tradition in the face of struggle. And in the midst of the current recession, one tradition that's going as strong as ever is the Christmas tree business. While families are scaling back and going with smaller, cheaper trees, sales are still steady across the board. John Tuttle, who runs the tree lot at St. Matthias School (Western and Ainslie), said, "Our sales are better than last year. I was shocked." As for us, we went cheap for the Chicagoist office Christmas tree this year, spending a paltry $25 on a slightly smaller, thinner but nonetheless awesome tree at Strack and Van Til. And don't forget, it's not too expensive to cut your own.