The convenience economy strikes again!
A new service called DC Tree Delivery will (you guessed it) bring a tree to your living room this holiday season, set it up, and even come back to retrieve it after the Christmas cheer has subsided. And this isn’t some half-baked idea–the company promises to “even vacuum up the needles!”
For the last two seasons Uber offered a Christmas tree dropoff service, but Ben Sisko and Koby Arthur–the duo behind DC Tree Delivery–are taking things a step further. The trees, Maryland-grown Fraser Firs, start at $75 for a four-footer, and a seven-footer will run you $100; the delivery system is applicable anywhere within the Beltway. All trees come with a stand, and delivery and set-up are included. No word on whether they will untangle the twelve feet of string lights that are currently jumbled in the bottom of a box somewhere.
Call me a traditionalist (really, go ahead, it’s a lovely compliment) but while the always-on-the-go part of me finds this incredibly alluring, there’s something truly special about the experience of picking out the tree for yourself–feeling enveloped by the crisp spell of pine, searching madly through the pile for a tree that’s not too crooked, not too fat, and just the right height.
And then there’s the inevitable argument with your significant other while one of perilously holds the sticky tree and the other shoves the base into the stand, followed by the vacuum’s hose-clogging when you drag the tree out to the street and it leaves a trail of crunchy brown needles in its wake.
OK, maybe I’m starting to change my mind…
Hillary writes about interiors, real estate, arts, and culture. She is the former digital media editor of The New Republic, and her work has also been published in Glamour, The New York Times Book Review, and The Washington Post, among others. You can follow her on Instagram @hillarylouisekelly or on Pinterest @hlkelly.
