Christmas business still strong

On U.S. 93 south of Kalispell, the Christmas spirit is piling up at Snow Line Tree Co. in the form of  Christmas trees, wreaths and centerpieces.

Carolyn Little, who owns the business with her husband, Tom, is busy greeting customers and strolling through the facility to make sure the operation is running smoothly. Sales typically end on Dec. 15.

Snow Line Tree Co. is nearing the end of its 60th season. The Littles have been selling trees so long that they have gone through generations in the same families.

“We’ve seen kids grow up and now they’re bringing their own children in,” Carolyn Little said.

The Littles are hoping to sell the business soon as time begins to wear on one of the longest-standing tree company owners in the Flathead Valley.

Tom joined the company in his early 20s, but has recently fallen ill and hasn’t been as active in the business this year. This left Carolyn to take up the majority of operations, shipping between 5,000 and  6,000 trees across the country as far as Missouri, Texas, Colorado and Kansas.  

“Most of our business is wholesale,” Little said. But the wholesale tree-shipping season ended by Thanksgiving, and now the hometown retail business has taken over. “The decoration business has become larger than the tree business,” she said.

Little isn’t alone, though, with about 20 employees joining Snow Line during the Christmas months.

In a small, heated shop in the back of the warehouse, Marilyn Brady decorates the wreaths on their way to the front. Glitter litters the floor, tinsel has taken over the tabletops and Creedence Clearwater Revival crackles out of an old Sony FM radio on the shelf nearby.

“Our success has always been based on the wonderful employees we have here year after year,” Little said, moving on to the next station after confirming the wreaths are stacking up and ready for sale.

Little strides through the main warehouse, where grand firs, Fraser firs and Scotch pines (the most common Christmas tree in the United States, according to the National Christmas Tree Association), all hang from the rafters, keeping their rigidity. Little said Snow Line has about nine different tree types, most coming from the Snow Line Tree Farm in Ferndale.

Despite an unusually hot and dry summer, Little said the Christmas tree harvest came out as healthy as any other year.

“The trees are all going to be a little drier this year, but the heat is good for growth,” she said.

The biggest difference in business this year, Little said, has been the growing demographic of residents who are new to the Flathead Valley.  

“We’ve met a lot of people who have moved here from Texas, Alabama or Virginia,” Little said. “It’s just wonderful.”

Through the Quonset building where most of the trees hang, Linda Anschutz is in another shop making wreaths and garlands. Anschutz is no rookie to the Christmas business, having worked at Snow Line for 27 years. She even claims to never tire of Christmas music.

“It is the most wonderful time of the year,” Anschutz said while she fed short pine branches into a wire-fed wheel, tying branches into garland.  

In the non-Christmas season, Anschutz said she works as a short-order cook in West Glacier.

“I like making things,” she said. “And it’s a nice way to spend time in the winter season.”

Little is quick to return to the front office, where she meets another waiting customer. A man she doesn’t recognize from generations said it’s his first Christmas in the Flathead Valley after moving from California.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.