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Christmas tree frenzy
With a isle shortage of trees, nearly
200 people crowd a seller's lot
and wait for hours for the
prize of a fresh noble fir
At 11 Friday night, Carolina Wang of Ewa Beach had staked out her position in the parking lot of Market City Shopping Center and was intently casing the empty Christmas tree tent.
But she wasn't alone.
A half-hour earlier, Louis Jamila of Kailua had parked his truck under cover of night to check out the same operation.
The two were watching for a high-stakes delivery: 130 noble firs flown in fresh from Oregon.
With a shortage of Christmas trees this year, Wang, Jamila and about 20 others camped in the Kaimuki parking lot to score a tree on a first-come, first-served basis.
By 5:30 a.m. yesterday, 24 people were pacing the parking lot. And by 8 a.m. about 200 tree-hungry customers were waiting.
Last year's glut, in which trees were almost given away days before Christmas, resulted in this year's dearth as tree entrepreneurs slashed back their orders.
For some, the early-morning tree wait was a test of will, pocketbook and moral indignation in the face of capitalism feeding off a fresh opportunity presented by simple supply and demand. The trees were double the original price quoted days earlier.
For others, it was a glorious social science experiment: Would order or chaos prevail?
Christmas tree entrepreneur Mele Kalikimaka Turner, left, faced tough questions yesterday from a crowd waiting for his trees.
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"This is good. The crowd stuck with the list. Order prevailed in a fluid situation. I'd say B+."
Bob Franco Kapiolani Community College anthropology professor
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"This has it all: survival of the fittest and tyranny of the masses. Some here are speaking for order and others for anarchy. Which will prevail when the trees arrive?"
Franco said the situation was analogous to being stranded in an airport and told a connecting flight home is canceled.
"So what are the rules here and where's the voice of authority? And will a bazillion people all rush the ticket counter at the same time?"
Hours earlier, sometime around 3 a.m., Wang and a few other early arrivals decided they needed a numbering system to identify people according to when they arrived in the parking lot. No. 2 was Chrissy Paty of Pupukea, who arrived at 2 a.m. and shared crumb cake and coffee with others at 3:30 a.m.
No. 6, who declined to identify himself, pulled out his ukulele around 4:30 a.m. He said: "I wanted cool the crowd. So nobody pissed off. This season to be jolly."
As dawn broke, the dilemma weighing on the waiting was whether their list would rule or the reservation list of the tree entrepreneur, a man with the unlikely name of Mele Kalikimaka Turner.
As the sun climbed in the morning sky, tempers flared. There were angry accusations of price gouging and joking threats of bodily harm to the tree entrepreneur. Four police officers hovered, in case the crowd turned ugly.
"We're just trying to keep the peace," said Sgt. Chester Kahalepuna.
About 7:30 a.m., the crowd turned testy after Wang called Turner on her cell phone and reported that the trees, all noble firs, were going to sell for $165 for a 4- to 5-foot tree; $185 for 5- to 6-foot trees; $265 for 6- to 7-foot trees.
"I was told $85 for a 6-foot Douglas fir tree on Wednesday," said Kimberly Rowan of Waikiki, who arrived at 6:30 with her daughter, Jillian. Rowan was one of the lucky in this crowd to be on "The Reserved List" drawn up by Turner on Wednesday in advance of sales. The reserve list had 130 names and there were only 130 trees coming in that morning. But Turner was working on more shipments.
"Which of us will get a tree?" asked Barbara Taylor of Honolulu, who arrived around 5 a.m. and was No. 12 by the crowd's account.
Shocked by what she and others called price gouging, Taylor shouted to the crowd: "He thinks he's got us because he's got the trees. But we have the money and maybe we won't pay!"
Mari Hoffman, a physician from Kahala, said: "This is capitalism at its worst. It's an abuse of the system at Christmas."
By 9:30, a few members of the crowd, like self-elected leaders of a revolution, took turns standing in the bed of a pickup truck to voice their opinion on which lists should stand.
Minutes later, Scott MacGowen, like several others in the crowd, caved to the pressure. With cell phone in hand, he contacted a Colorado company that sold him a 7-foot noble for $80 and charged $145 for the shipping.
Finally, just before 10 a.m., Turner and his trees arrived.
"I am not gouging," Turner told the crowd. "It's a fair price for the time and energy. There's a lot involved in bringing a tree to Hawaii."
He told them: "We couldn't get Douglas firs. All we have is noble. And, as you know, that's a top-quality tree and the most spendy."
Turner explained to the crowd the economics of raising, fertilizing and caring for a Christmas tree. He said trees were expensive and, on top of that, he was paying a premium for flying them in this late in the season.
"If you reserved a seat on an airplane, what would it cost?" he asked the crowd.
"I'm comfortable with our prices knowing what UPS is charging," said Turner, referring to United Parcel Service rates for shipping a tree.
But some in the crowd knew better. They said the could get a 7-foot tree through UPS for $215.
Turner backed his price down.
He told the crowd he would work first off the reserve list and sell trees to those on the list who were present. Then he would take the crowd's list.
The masses lined up outside the Christmas tree tent with fearful-looking young workers inside.
"It was worth it," said Hoffman, slapping down $215 in cash. "It was important to hold him accountable and bring his prices down."
Franco, the anthropology professor, dragging his $185 tree to his car, said: "This is good. The crowd stuck with the list. Order prevailed in a fluid situation. I'd say B+."
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