MINNEAPOLIS — You might imagine that a guy who works for the National Christmas Tree Association would be the type to cut down his own fir for the holidays. But not Rick Dungey.
“I point and click, and it shows up on my front door,” said Dungey, a spokesman for the Missouri-based retail and tree farmers’ association. “For me, it’s a convenience.”
With consumers’ growing comfort with Internet shopping, it seems that even tried-and-true holiday traditions are changing.
Target Corp. began selling fresh Christmas trees online Sunday for the first time, joining Costco as one of the few national retailers to use the Web to sell live trees. Target spokeswoman Jill Hornbacher said the retailer thinks the online-only offering will be an added convenience, especially for city dwellers.
Family farmers Jim and Beverly Whorton said online sales now make up about 10 percent of trees sold at their “choose-and-cut” Chub Lake Tree Farm in Carlton, Minn.
