They Have 8-9 Foot Tall Fraser Firs at S&R!

Over the past few Christmases, S&R has brought in 7-8 foot tall fresh Fraser Firs from the Pacific Northwest. They make the trip over in a chilled container that makes the trees think they are in winter hibernation. But they always, always deliver the trees WAY TOO EARLY to customers, calling for pick-ups in late-November. And the trees are rather diminutive. So for years I have been convincing, coercing, begging and pleading for larger trees. Last year I thought I managed to get the buyer to stick a 10 foot tree (for me) in the container filled of 7-8 footers, but at the last minute they nixed the idea. So I am so HAPPY TO SEE that our good friends and buyers at S&R are actually testing the waters this year with taller trees. Okay, so a foot taller doesn’t seem like much. But when faced with a 7.5 footer vs. an 8.5 footer on average, wouldn’t you like the taller/bigger/longer one? The foot increase in height also means a much broader base to the tree.

I reserved a tree this year, and noticed that on the order sheet, at least HALF of the orders in the Fort Bonifacio branch were for the taller trees, at PHP4,999 vs. the shorter trees which I think were PHP4,499, if I am not mistaken. So I hope in future they will go to the next level and bring in the ten-footers, and add different varieties of trees as well. Taller trees only available in BGC and Alabang branches.

A few weeks ago, I spied an advertisement by a local florist that said they were bringing in up to 20 foot trees and in all the nice varieties, but at say PHP30,000+ for a Noble fir that scrapes our ceiling, even I balked at the price. I think those were the folks that bring in the lobby trees for the snazzy hotels and office buildings that want to really show off during the holidays. If I had casino easy money, I’d buy some 20 foot trees as well.

As for the early delivery (the trees will only last 2-3 weeks at most even in the best of indoor conditions), I am hoping some residual problems at the ports of Manila delay the refrigerated container, so they get in early December, and I delay my pick-up until mid-December and the tree should be nice and fragrant in the week run-up to Christmas. Get to S&R soon if you want to order a tall or less tall tree. And no, I don’t get anything for plugging their Christmas trees on this site, I just like tall fresh Christmas trees!