The rush to deck the halls is officially on and if you haven't been to the store yet to stock up on supplies, you may be in for a surprise.
Shoppers are finding nearly-empty shelves that are typically stuffed with lights, ornaments and wreaths this time of year.
“It’s all gone, it’s crazy,” said Maribeth Declercq whose trying to decorate her family’s new home.
In McKinney, firs are flying off the floor of Christmas Traditions which sells trees along U.S. 75.
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“You probably outta get out this weekend,” said owner Shawn Lane.
Heading into what's typically his busiest weekend, Lane says he's already sold almost as many trees as he did all last year.
“This is probably the quickest and busiest start we've had in 20 years selling real Christmas trees here at Christmas Traditions,” Lane said.
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The reasons range for short supplies range, experts say, from supply chain problems to the holiday shopping season that started earlier than ever.
Lane says the supply of Christmas trees has been strained since the 2008 recession and because of wildfires out west.
He says he ordered his tree shipment early in June, and had no problem getting the trees delivered from Oregon.
He expects to sell out by mid-month.
“I think people are ready for the holiday season. We see that with people putting up the decorations early, people buying a Christmas trees on November 20th which is when we opened before Thanksgiving,” Lane said.
The moral of this Christmas story: Shop early.
