$ 1200 Christmas tree: New York City holiday merchandise prices are shocking

A 20-year-old 12,5-foot (3,8 m) spruce in Greenwich Village has been valued at $ 1100. Yet this is not the most expensive Christmas tree sold in New York, writes New York Post.

The 14-foot (4,2 m) forest beauty was listed for sale for $ 1200.

But the Greenwich Village tree is arguably the “prettiest” tree. So says 68-year-old Billy Romp from Virginia. Since 1988, he has sold Christmas trees annually at the corner of Jane Street and Eighth Avenue. Here you can find Christmas trees and cheaper ones - for $ 800 or $ 900.

“The biggest beauties are in the smallest numbers, especially now, in the fourth year of Christmas tree shortages,” said the entrepreneur. “Even in normal times, this is a class A, premium-plus, very lush shape, quite dense.”

Romp said the 2007-2008 financial crisis caused disruptions in the growing of the Christmas trees that consumers pay for today.

“The trees are smaller and more expensive,” agreed Kevin Hammer, CEO of Evergreen East, a Wisconsin-based Christmas tree cooperative that bills itself as “the best seller of Christmas trees in New York.” "It's good for chain stores, good for manufacturers, and bad for people."

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Hammer said recent trends have made it harder than ever to move trees. Wealthy New York bankers and hedge fund managers who poured big bucks on oversized spruces in past seasons "are still working from home or have moved south and will never return."

But Romp is sure that the fact that they have been selling spruce here for more than one generation will help them survive any crisis.

Romp's 30-year-old son, Henry, spends every December "six months" on this corner. Grandchildren - Colby, 17, and Charlie Bishop, 11 - make up the third generation of the family who lives and works in the area every Christmas.

They sleep in campsites parked on Jane Street, with neighbors offering a bed or shower space if needed.

Billy Romp wrote Christmas on Jane Street in 2008 about his relationship with his daughter Ellie, which took place every winter in their patch of trees.

Local musician Carol McCann has penned a Christmas carol of the same name, "Christmas on Jane Street," dedicated to the family's impact on society. Rompas bring their instruments and often perform in front of their trees.

They close the store at midnight on Christmas Eve and begin the five-hour drive back to Middlebury, Virginia.

“We're going home early Christmas morning,” said Henry Romp. "And we are putting up the last tree in the outgoing year."