WESTON — In the New England state that grows the most Christmas trees, the Vermont Country Store offers a seeming galaxy of ornaments and add-ons, from floor-hugging skirts to ceiling-grazing stars.
“Evergreen trees are a universal symbol of the season,” the third generation of Orton family storekeepers writes on its website.
So why has the $100 million-a-year business seen a 2-foot-tall boxed alternative become a surprise bestseller?
“When things in the world seem a little chaotic, it brings back great memories and puts a smile on your face,” merchandising manager Julie Noyes said of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, which debuted six decades ago and has drawn new interest from people starting up or downsizing in a chilly economy.
When Charles Schulz introduced “Peanuts” 75 years ago, the late cartoonist didn’t envision the comic strip would lead to global syndication and a series of television specials, beginning with 1965’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
In that show, the title character searches for the perfect Christmas tree, only to come home with a straggly sapling.
“Gee, do they still make wooden Christmas trees?” his friend Linus asks. “Maybe it just needs a little love.”
And with the addition of a blanket around its base, the conifer is soon warming hearts.
Sixty years later, $21.95 official replicas can be found at Vermont Country Stores in Weston and Rockingham, in their mail-order catalog and on their website — and in customer homes from Connecticut to California.
“It’s precious, just precious,” Jill Charbonneau said in a call from the Rockport, Maine, home she and her husband, Paul, have shared for a half-century. “It’s so simple and says everything it’s supposed to say.”
She’s not alone in her appreciation. The tree has an average customer rating of 4.9 out of 5, according to its webpage, with nearly 100 rave reviews about its simple cost, scale and upkeep from people coast to coast.
Take the Illinois couple settling into their first home. The traveling nurse on the road. The Colorado widow living alone. The Florida shopper rebuilding after a hurricane. All agree with the comment from the North Carolina woman facing mobility issues: “This little tree is my solution.”
“It’s neat to have an old memory right in front of ya,” a Texas man adds in his review. “Takes me back to a time when life seemed so easy.”
The Vermont Country Store, with 450 year-round workers, almost doubles its staff each December to maintain its retail shops, Manchester offices and Clarendon distribution center during the busy holiday season, Noyes says. But the merchandising manager won’t specify how many Charlie Brown Christmas Trees are sold.
“Lots,” she says. “Lots and lots.”
All embodying something small and simple.
“Less is more,” one California reviewer summed up the tree. “It is a little ray of hope.”
