Christmas Trees, Week Two

 

Hot and humid it is here in Victoria Texas. Week two is now completed and Max and I are kind of “Punch Drunk”. We are so tired that we are getting a little cranky. We just give each other a big hug every morning and tell each other that we are sorry in advance.

Keeping employee’s is a major problem. We have to keep track of our labor costs and can only have so many employee’s here at certain times. When we get a load shipment I will have 3 guys here to help unload. Then on the weekends, I only keep one until mid-afternoon then I will have another one come in. I would like to have more because of our strange logistics with the tree warehouse 200 yards away, but there was no labor standard factored in for the extra marshaling of trees that we have to do. So in order to stay within site of our labor cost per tree goal we have to keep the manpower low and we still may not make our goal.

This is after all only a 4 to 5 week job paying minimum wage, and it is hard to find people available or willing to work here. We have one guy that has been coming back to work at this tent for the last four years, Thankfully he is a good worker and is dependable. The others are hit and miss if they even show up.

We are slowly getting caught up with our Flocking orders. The weather has been so humid that the trees will not dry after Flocking them. Here is a table top tree that is flocked. The flocking seals in the moisture and preserves the tree. It is great if a person has allergies to the tree’s. The Flocking will prevent the aroma from getting into the air.

Table Top

 

I will try to get some pictures of the bigger tree’s that we flock. I just have not had time to pull a camera out when I am in the flocking room.

Our wreath and garland area

Sales are still going strong and we will have about two more busy weekends before it slows down. This is the first job that I have ever had where I had to sale or work with the public. It has been very fun seeing the young families come in to pick the perfect tree. For the most part they are very friendly and in a good mood. We have had our moments with some customers though. These moments will make a good campfire story someday.

18 days until Christmas.

Enjoy Your Day!