‘We’re not going to go back to the way it was’: Farm owners say downsizing Christmas tree sales was not a bad thing
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. (WRIC) — A family farm in Hanover County is getting ready to put Christmas trees on sale for the holiday season, similar to the way they have done for many years. However, the Hicks family says sales at the Windy Knoll Farm this year won't look like years past and probably never will again. Co-owner Tom Hicks and his son have been selling Christmas trees at Knolls Farm for decades, but over the last several years a supply and demand issue has forever changed the way they do business. “Well, we had trees, but we just didn't have the numbers,” Hicks explained. “They went all the way back to that brick house. Probably must have been close to 20,000.” The Windy Knoll Farm was established in 1977. Hicks says that in the following decades, the farm would see thousands of trees -- all in various stages of growth during the holiday season. They would usually end up selling around 2,500 of those. However, he says that over the coming years, the growth they saw in the community outweighed the number of trees that were mature and ready to be sold. “Our numbers dropped," Hicks said. “And because we didn't have enough tall trees to sell. Nothing wrong with the tree. It's just a process. It takes another seven to eight years to actually have the tree for sale. We plant a tree today, we're looking at about another seven to eight years.” According to Hicks, there was a period of several years, from 2018 to 2023, where they were unable to sell Christmas trees at all. Last year was the first year they sold trees after the hiatus, and they were only open for one day and they sold about 50 trees at the time. “We sold less because we had less to sell. That was, we had trees at that time, and we've planted more since then. But we're not going to go back to the way it was. Our numbers dropped, and we decided not to continue to be in those numbers," Hicks said. Hicks says they plan to open on Black Friday and the following Saturday, Nov. 30, this year — and expect to sell about 100 to 150 trees. The farm will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. However, if they do not sell all of their trees, Hicks says that he would consider staying open another weekend to make sure they get sold.
VENN
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. (WRIC) — A family farm in Hanover County is getting ready to put Christmas trees on sale for the holiday season, similar to the way they have done for many years. However, the Hicks family says sales at the Windy Knoll Farm this year won't look like years past and probably never will again.
Co-owner Tom Hicks and his son have been selling Christmas trees at Knolls Farm for decades, but over the last several years a supply and demand issue has forever changed the way they do business.
“Well, we had trees, but we just didn't have the numbers,” Hicks explained. “They went all the way back to that brick house. Probably must have been close to 20,000.”
The Windy Knoll Farm was established in 1977. Hicks says that in the following decades, the farm would see thousands of trees -- all in various stages of growth during the holiday season.
They would usually end up selling around 2,500 of those. However, he says that over the coming years, the growth they saw in the community outweighed the number of trees that were mature and ready to be sold.
“Our numbers dropped," Hicks said. “And because we didn't have enough tall trees to sell. Nothing wrong with the tree. It's just a process. It takes another seven to eight years to actually have the tree for sale. We plant a tree today, we're looking at about another seven to eight years.”
According to Hicks, there was a period of several years, from 2018 to 2023, where they were unable to sell Christmas trees at all. Last year was the first year they sold trees after the hiatus, and they were only open for one day and they sold about 50 trees at the time.
“We sold less because we had less to sell. That was, we had trees at that time, and we've planted more since then. But we're not going to go back to the way it was. Our numbers dropped, and we decided not to continue to be in those numbers," Hicks said.
Hicks says they plan to open on Black Friday and the following Saturday, Nov. 30, this year — and expect to sell about 100 to 150 trees. The farm will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. However, if they do not sell all of their trees, Hicks says that he would consider staying open another weekend to make sure they get sold.
