EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The holidays have finally arrived in the borderland and with that comes the Christmas decorations. However, residents who are planning on getting a real Christmas tree this year could pay a bit extra.

El Paso Blessed Christmas Trees has been a family-owned business in El Paso for 30 years. Over the course of that time, they were able to have multiple tents set up all over the city for residents who were looking for their perfect tree.

However, after the Covid-19 pandemic they chose to reduce to just one tent on the east side as their only location. They continue to struggle with keeping their clientele as they are unaware that they are still selling Christmas trees.

“We used to have a lot of regular customers that we knew now they come back and they tell us we didn’t know you guys were back because we don’t see any posts or anything so we just want to get the news out there that were back.”- Brian Rodriguez/ Co-Owner Blessed Christmas trees

Across the nation, inflation has affected tree farms and their ability to keep costs down. Christmas trees are now sold to vendors at a higher cost which in turn affects the consumers who have to pay more for real trees.

Blessed Christmas Trees receive their trees from a farm in Oregon, which have also been affected by the rising prices.

“There’s been a lot of forest fires out there if you guys didn’t know it has affected the trees and the prices as well, and they’ve been a little more costly, but we only raised our prices by about 10 dollars.” said Brian Rodriguez

Buying a fake tree for the Christmas holiday has become a normal scenario over the recent years mostly due to inflation as well as it being an easier set up. However, Rodrigez says the tradition behind a family choosing a Christmas tree is unmatched and brings in a much-welcomed comfort.

“I feel like a real tree really brings that tradition to your house it makes your house smell good a lot of times it brings the family together going and buying a Christmas tree its kind of tradition its kind of the things we do here we serve the customers real well.”

For local and breaking news, sports, weather alerts, video and more, download the FREE KTSM 9 News App from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store