I hope you’re all enjoying the beautiful fall season. With the holiday season quickly approaching, I wanted to be sure this message got out to everyone. After much thought, we made the announcement to our email subscribers and are uploading it to the blog just in case anyone missed the original post.
I wanted to let you all know how much I’ve appreciated your patronage over the past 48 years I’ve been in this business, almost 35 of them in Crestline Village. (And no, I’m not retiring!)
But this message is to let you know that after much thought and many sleepless nights, I’ve decided that Oak Street Garden Shop will no longer sell Christmas trees beginning this year. What a difficult decision this has been! Over the years, we’ve enjoyed providing the most beautiful trees, and we have so many wonderful memories, including being shown pictures of your decorated trees, the holiday jewel in countless living rooms, each and every one of them described as the “Best Tree Ever.”
I still have the drawing one little girl made, addressed to me, that hung on the tree she and her family had picked out after hours. Attached to it was a handwritten note asking, “Please, Mr. Angell, save this tree for us.” I proudly had it laminated and hung it in my office. How special finding that was, and how good it felt to know she will probably never forget that Christmas either.
Or the customer who each and every year would browse the trees on Thanksgiving Day (their special tradition). We always knew to look for their tree the day after Thanksgiving… and there it would be, the red luggage tag with their name on it, affixed as high as they could reach.
It’s truly been 48 years of happy memories, but I won’t deny that the last few years, due to labor shortages, it has become more difficult. I could also see it wasn’t as happy an experience for you either. I know no one wants to stand in line to pick out a tree still wrapped on the ground, no matter how pretty you know it will be in the end, or wait in line for hours while trees are drilled.
The stress of this carried over to me and my staff, and, unfortunately, the holiday season became longer and harder each year. We always prided ourselves on the precision with which sales and deliveries were carried out, and I knew that we had come to a point where a decision had to be made.
However, the good news is that we will continue to offer the most beautiful wreaths, garland, new products, and mailbox decorations just as we always have. We hope you’ll still look to us for all of that and more this holiday season!
We’re also excited that we’ll be able to, for the first time in so many years, truly have a fall season in the nursery. This means that in addition to everything we’ve always carried through autumn and winter, we’ll also be adding more shrubs, natives, and interesting plants for your fall garden. We are having fun planning this new avenue!
I’ll end this by thanking you for coming along with us as we enter a new chapter in Oak Street Garden Shop’s almost 35 years – we can’t do any of this without you! I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, but now I’m ready to pass the Christmas tree baton to a new generation.
With much appreciation,
Billy Angell