Christmas tree sales boom may hurt procrastinators

Time is running out fast for consumers who haven't decked their halls or trimmed their tree. There's still more than a week before Christmas, but tree lots are emptying out.

"Demand has been very strong," said Oscar Slotarbeck, head of company surveys for ISI Group, which tracks Christmas tree sales. The weekend after Thanksgiving, sales rose 16 percent compared with last year—the biggest jump in the survey's 11-year history. Sales slowed a bit in early December due to winter storms, but were up 7 percent year over year.

(Read more: Forget groceries. The next FreshDirect model is Christmas trees)

Christmas tree purchases have waxed and waned with economic uncertainty. Last year, people bought 24.5 million real trees, down from 30.8 million in 2011, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. That, in turn was up from 27 million in 2010. Consumers who bought a tree last year reported spending an average $40.30.

Some of this year's boom stems from more consumers wanting trees, as well as more people buying early because there's one fewer week between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, said Slotarbeck. But tree sellers hadn't anticipated higher demand.

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"My sense is, a lot of the various sellers expected the season to be roughly the same as last year," he said. "Some of the retailers said things sold so well the first weekend, they were running low on some particular large, popular trees."

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That may lengthen the hunt for families set on say, an eight-foot tall Fraser fir.

But consumers looking for a small tree will have an easier time of it. So-called apartment or condo trees—narrow specimens that top out at four feet, max—have become trendy, said Rick Dungey, a spokesman for the National Christmas Tree Association. "Ten years ago, you'd never have seen something like that," he said.

No matter how tall the tree, getting a good price can require calling around. Prices can vary widely, with some locations charging a flat rate for any tree on the lot, and others varying by height and tree species. Some outlets even offer coupons.

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And if the holiday season is getting hectic, there are more options to have a fresh-cut tree shipped this year, said Dungey.

Online car service Uber ran a one-day promotion offering home delivery of a 7- or 8-foot Fraser fir and stand for $135; Home Depot, Target and Sears, as well as Christmas tree farms, also ship fresh-cut trees—cut on the farm at the time of your order—nationwide.

This late in the season, online prices are already dropping, although you'll still pay a premium over lot rates. Target recently knocked 25 percent off its tree prices, with a five-foot Fraser selling for $99.94 instead of $133.26. At Sears, an eight-foot Fraser goes for $152.99, a $17 discount.

—By CNBC's Kelli B. Grant. Follow her on Twitter @kelligrant.

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Meet the FreshDirect of Christmas trees

Source: Tyler's TreesEntrepreneurs Brian Millman and Tyler Kupper are the co-founders behind Tyler’s Trees, a New York City-based FreshDirect model for Christmas trees.

From groceries to laundry detergent to prescription drugs, seemingly anything can be delivered to your front door.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that a pair of New York-based entrepreneurs using a FreshDirect-business model for Christmas trees is now expanding.

You can dispense with schlepping to a tree lot and arriving home exhausted only to wrangle with a wobbly tree stand and crooked skirt. Tyler's Trees' staff—or "elves," as they call themselves—will do it all for a flat fee, starting at $139 for a 5-footer. The price includes delivery, installation, and a stand and skirt.

"We make sure it's perfect on the center line, put it into fresh water, and it's ready to go," said co-founder Tyler Kupper. "All you have to do is put lights on and ornaments, and you're done."

And if you'd rather not untangle lights and fuss with glass ornaments, decoration services start at $129.

"We employ a professional decorator who has experience doing storefronts," said Tyler's Trees' other co-founder, Brian Millman. The personalized trimming services are sold out for this holiday season, though.

More people are using such on-demand Christmas tree services. Home Depot recently partnered with technology software company Uber to let customers order trees using an Uber smartphone app. Trees were delivered earlier this month on a limited basis.

Kupper and Millman launched Tyler's Trees in 2008 and plan to expand into other cities next year, including Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.

The duo struck on their business idea five years ago as they watched an older woman drag a tree across West 57th Street in upper Manhattan.

"Everything is delivered, so why not have Christmas trees delivered through an easy, simple website?" Kupper said.

Every year, the co-founders handpick about 1,000 Fraser Firs from a third-generation tree grower in North Carolina. The inventory is stored locally before delivery.

Tyler's Trees delivers throughout New York except Staten Island and has donated trees throughout the region, including in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. The co-founders recently donated trees to Brooklyn public schools.

"Some kids had never seen a real Christmas tree before," Kupper said.

Overall, he said, their customer base skews slightly more female than male. The small business, which has grown to 12 employees, has also added services, such as tree removal starting at $50.

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Nancy Rosenthal, a school nurse in Brooklyn, is using Tyler's Trees for the fourth year this holiday. When her children were younger, she said, the annual tree acquisition was a daylong ritual involving trekking up and down a local mountain.

"My husband would put 3,000 lights in the tree," she said.

Now, with her kids grown, Rosenthal has Tyler's Trees deliver a 9- to 10-foot tree and set it up for her.

"You order it in advance," she said. "It's so convenient."

—By CNBC's Heesun Wee. Follow her on Twitter @heesunwee.

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