The 2022 Christmas tree season in the Austin Area, Shortage, Inflation, Price & things we wish we had known!

The 2022 Christmas tree season in the Austin Area, Shortage, Inflation, Price & things we wish we had known!

Welcome to my 2022 Christmas tree business tell-all series! 

It's hard to believe we've been in the Christmas tree business for 9 holiday seasons! We love being a part of the Austin / Cedar Park area's Christmas celebrations every year. To think, I used to dream of owning a Christmas tree farm, that dream has shifted a bit for a variety of reasons.

The Christmas tree industry. like any other business, is tough!  There is no instruction manual for Christmas tree lots; on the contrary, the rules of the industry tend to be more made up as we go along. Seriously, I could write a Netflix documentary that would blow some people's minds.

After hours of trying to figure out how to explain this season, I decided that I'm going to do some blogging and peel back the curtains of the business. I was warned, “don’t give away your secrets” and “be careful what you say about the business”. The thing is, they’re less “secrets” than they are lessons that I’ve learned, often the hard way, that I really wish I had known prior to starting this company 9 years ago.

Everyone has the right to make informed decisions and this is my way of helping to inform you, the customers.

To start with though, here are the Christmas tree basics for the 2022 Brungot Farms Christmas season:

YES, we will have Christmas trees!

We have Christmas tree farm commitments, we will open Sunday November 20th at the Twin Lakes YMCA in Cedar Park!
 
The 2022 Christmas Tree Pre-Sale is planned to start on September 18th!
Last year, In the first 10 hours of the 2021 Christmas Tree Pre-Sale, I thought we had a runaway train–Larissa and I had never seen orders fly in like that!
It’s hard to predict what this year’s pre-sale will look like, but one thing we know for sure: every year we talk to families that come in and can't find the tree size they are looking for. I can’t begin to tell you how much it hurts my soul to tell people I don't have a Christmas tree that they want.
The best way to prevent this is to get on our pre-sale email list! Those on our email list will get the first notifications about available trees and customers who pre-order their trees are guaranteed to get the size that they’re looking for.

Unfortunately, there are going to be price increases on Christmas Trees & Wreaths.

We have done everything we can to minimize the increases, but they were necessary in order to stay in business as our costs have gone up 40% over the last 2 years. 

Soon you will start hearing the same three words that have been buzzing for the last few years: “Christmas tree shortage”. Adding to the struggle is another word that we have all become far too familiar with lately: “inflation”.

In a nutshell, these are the words that explain the price increases on Christmas trees and other holiday supply chains this year. Last year, we made minimal price increases, despite our costs increasing almost 20%. With our cost increases doubling this year, we simply can’t absorb those increases and stay in business.

I’m going to go into more detail regarding the 2022 cost and price increases in my next blog post, as I have a few meetings this week that should help solidify all of the details. We are just glad that we know we that our Christmas Trees will be in your homes come Christmas day! 

Because of you, our H.O.P.E. programs have done some amazing things over the last several years and we have even more exciting plans for this year as well!

Our customers have helped do some incredible things and last Christmas season was no different! Hope for Hunger was a major win, not just locally, but across the country as well. Thanks to your generosity, the Hope for Hunger program provided (and continues to provide) hundreds of meals for families in need.

Our goal is to repeat and even expand Christmas celebrations to even more homes for the 2022 season.

The Hope for Christmas program was also a huge success last year, providing so many Christmas trees to individuals and families in our community who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to get them.

There is a MAJOR collaboration in the works for the 2022 H.O.P.E. programs that will be announced in the next few weeks. The last few details are still being worked out, but this has been an ongoing effort for much of the off-season.
Our pre-sale options are going to remain much the same as they did last year, where you can choose which program you want to donate to. 

This is just the beginning, there’s a lot more to be said about the upcoming Christmas season! Be on the lookout for the next post and the launch of the 2022 Christmas Tree Pre-Sale on 9/18/22!

9 comments

Sep 12, 2022
Sarah Clise Sampson

Please put me on your pre sale list. Want to go bigger this year!
Really appreciate your blog/email.

Sep 12, 2022
Lori

Thanks for the update – wishing you a great season ahead.
We love Brungot Farms !

Sep 12, 2022
Valerie Redwine

I am interested in the christmas wreaths
Is there a pre order on these as well?

Sep 12, 2022
Michele Leeman

Hard to think Christmas already!;). Kids just got back to school;)!
Happy to help with HOPE:)
Looking again for a
12-13’ slim tapered Frazier 🌲 fir
goes in the corner of our living room;)
Thank you:)

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