‘Tis the season to be thrifty

Fake or real, second-hand or new - everyone has their preference when it comes to Christmas trees and decorations, and it seems that many Nelsonians are heading to the op shops for theirs this year.

Nelson ReStore began selling Christmas stock at the beginning of November and has already sold more than 5000 of these pre-loved items.

Assistant manager Mandy Silcock says their mission is to ensure people can have an affordable Christmas – and as a bonus, save things from going to landfill and raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

“As you can see, we’ve got a bit of a forest growing here,” Mandy says, while pointing to their impressive haul of Christmas trees.

She estimates they will sell more than 100 artificial trees of all shapes and sizes before 25 December.

A month ago, their Christmas storeroom walls were stacked high with 120 banana boxes, full of decorations, kitchenware, craft supplies – you name it.

Incoming goods coordinator Juliet Randle says there are some real treasures amongst the donations.

“Beautiful tree decorations that you wouldn’t be able to buy in New Zealand… lots of special things that are not produced anymore.”

Mandy says she loves hearing the feedback from customers about how much they enjoy the Christmas shop.

Juliet remembers her first Christmas working at ReStore, where several out-of-towners camping nearby came in to buy a tree for their stay and then donate it again before leaving Nelson.

“It can be a really affordable way to have Christmas and we are grateful to the people who donate to us.”

They then start the process all over again and start storing Christmas stock from January for the next season.

St Vincent de Paul Nelson shop manager Vanessa Donald says their Christmas trees and decorations are also “flying off the shelves”.

“We’ve got a nice variety, including some smaller Christmas trees for tables, and we’re bagging up baubles and things like that and selling them for low prices.

“People are also very generous with their donations, so we are well-stocked.”

Vanessa says they are also seeing more people shopping for Christmas presents.

“We have some really nice gifts… hanky sets, cups and saucers, lots of once-off pieces too – it’s lovely when a customer finds something meaningful.”

Meanwhile - if you are after a real Christmas tree, it’s looking like there will be plenty of these available too.

Eyebright started selling them on 23 November, with “hundreds” of trees ready to go.

Wakefield Christmas Trees on Whitby Rd will open their gates on 2 December and will operate each day from 9am – 6pm until all the suitable trees are sold.

Trees, including “quite a few larger trees this year” are $30 each with payment by cash or bank deposit.

St Nicks Christmas Tree farm in Cable Bay will have pine trees available for $25 each.

“We have plenty of trees available this year and the season is looking good,” they told Nelson Weekly.

Their opening hours will be Saturday 7 December, Sunday 8 December, Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 December from 10am – 5pm.