THIS IS OUR 2007 PRICE CHECK – FIND OUR WEST SEATTLE 2008 LIST HERE

Just back from making the rounds of every West Seattle Christmas tree seller we know of. (If we missed one – we’ll admit to not checking arterials east of Delridge to look for indies – please let us know and we’ll get out to scout it.) We chose a couple representative tree sizes for comparison’s sake – 5-6′ Noble Fir, 6-7′ Noble Fir, 5-6′ Douglas Fir. Here’s what we found, north to south, including any special notes – caveat, this is from an in-person survey conducted today; pricing changes certainly could happen before you make your tree-shopping trip:

“ALKI” TREE LOT
Location: West side of Harbor Ave directly across from 7-11
Pricing? Tag on each tree
Pricing we sampled:
5-6′ Douglas Fir, $24.50
6′ Noble Fir, $42.50
6-7′ Noble Fir, $52.50
7′ Noble Fir, $62.50
Notes: Some surprises sprinkled in (like a much-discounted Noble Fir with a tag that said “Hi, My Name is Charlie Brown” per of course the famous TV cartoon tree) … also note that this lot is bigger than it looks, it stretches north from its little corner of this entrance to a Harbor Ave industrial area … 12/16 ADDENDUM: Lot operators e-mailed WSB to say they have 40+ trees left and are pricing all at $20 each …

HOLY ROSARY TREE LOT
Location: behind Admiral Safeway, corner of California/Lander (map)
Pricing? Tagged by size, and price lists are posted
Pricing we sampled:
5-6′ Douglas Fir, $25
5-6′ Noble Fir, $55
6-7′ Noble Fir, $65
Notes: The lot is primarily a fundraiser for Holy Rosary School but also donates 15% of proceeds to local charities. Wide selection of varieties, including many Grand Firs.

HOME DEPOT
Location: Delridge & Orchard (map)
Pricing? Tagged by size, price signs are posted
Pricing we sampled:
5-7′ Douglas Fir, $19.97
5-6′ Noble Fir, $29.97
6-7′ Noble Fir, $39.97
Notes: A special promotion is under way offering $30 off future purchases to people who buy LIVE Christmas trees through next Wednesday (12/5/07).

TRUE VALUE
Location: 44th & Edmunds (map)
Pricing? Tagged by size, price signs are posted
Pricing we sampled:
5-6′ Douglas Fir, $25.95
5-6′ Noble Fir, $45.95
6-7′ Noble Fir, $55.95
Note: Abundance of Fraser firs as well (not as widely sold as others)

CALIFORNIA AVENUE RITE AID
Location: 5217 California (map)
Pricing? Priced and tagged by size
Pricing we sampled:
5-6′ Douglas Fir, $19.99
5-6′ Noble Fir, $39.99
6-7′ Noble Fir, $49.99
12/18 UPDATE: No more trees.

WEST SEATTLE NURSERY
Location: 5275 California (map)
Pricing? Per tree, each tree tagged
Pricing we sampled:
***not a direct comparison with others because of the per-tree pricing***
Many good-sized Douglas Firs at least 6′, $19.98
Noble Fir that looked to be about 7′, $56.98
Noble Fir that looked to be about 6′, $46.98
***saw other Noble-type trees priced lower and higher***
12/18 UPDATE: Some Douglas firs discounted – we saw trees priced as low as $11.

Note: Wide variety of trees and varieties, distributed all over the premises

QFC/WESTWOOD VILLAGE
Location: Southeast side of Westwood Village
Pricing: Priced & tagged by size
Pricing we sampled:
5-6′ Douglas Fir, $28.99
5-6′ Noble Fir, $44.99
6-7′ Noble Fir, $49.99

RITE AID/WESTWOOD VILLAGE
Location: Far southeast corner of Westwood Village
Pricing? Priced and tagged by size
Pricing we sampled (same as RA on California):
5-6′ Douglas Fir, $19.99
5-6′ Noble Fir, $39.99
6-7′ Noble Fir, $49.99
12/18 UPDATE: No more trees.

TONY’S
Location: 35th/Roxbury (map)
Pricing: Per tree, not tagged (except for flocked trees inside)
Note: No prices are marked; the cashier says you just need to ask the
attendants about a specific tree, so we don’t have any specifics for you, except for the flocked trees indoors, which appeared to start (judging by a tiny one in front) around $34.99

For last-minute tree shoppers, we will probably update this during the last week before Christmas. If you run a tree lot and you dramatically change your prices or plan a special promotion, we’d love to hear from you. For shoppers – we saw some beautiful trees out there at most of the places we visited, so at least right now, there’s a great variety of choices before you settle on just the perfect tree – we hope your shopping weather is better than the sleety downpour we slogged through today!