• USA Today, Friday, December 2, 2011 10:37 AM

Some retailers' websites, including Target, Costco and, on board this week, Sears and Kmart, are selling freshly cut Christmas trees delivered door to door anywhere in the 48 contiguous states. Online sales of cut trees are still a fraction of the 27 million-plus Christmas trees expected to be purchased this year, says the National Christmas Tree Association. Some 33% of consumers still opt for choose-and-cut farms, the group says.

Still online tree sales are lucrative. Some retailer sites cajole shoppers to purchase a tree even as folks sign on to just to purchase ornaments. Not everyone is keen on this trend. "It's a sad reflection of where American society is going," says Lisa Mastny, a spokeswoman for the Center for a New American Dream, a non-profit group that encourages a less product-focused seasonal celebration.  Sears charges as much as $189.99 for a nine-foot Fraser fir tree from North Carolina.

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