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American Morning
Cashing in on Christmas
Aired December 25, 2003 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Besides every retailer who ever hired a Santa, who else is cashing in on Christmas? Think trees, cards, the fruitcake. Just how much money is being made this holiday season?
Andy Serwer is minding your business this morning.
Hey, happy holidays.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Merry Christmas to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
SERWER: I hope it's not crass to talk about money.
O'BRIEN: No, please, go ahead.
SERWER: But, you know, it's light-hearted fare and, you know, Christmas is a big holiday. It's a big business for a lot of companies and people out there. And Christmas trees is a part of that. It's a billion dollar business in America. And in case you haven't noticed, artificial trees -- I don't call them fake trees -- artificial trees have been growing and growing and growing. There are some real ones and they really are beautiful, aren't they? We have one in our house and let me tell you something, in New York City they cost a pretty penny.
But here's the thing. Artificial trees have been growing versus real trees over the years. Now, seven out of the 10 trees are artificial trees. You can see the numbers here. And this is opposed to in 1990, when it was 50-50. You can see the -- why do we call them fake? They're artificial.
O'BRIEN: I have fake...
SERWER: Fake works for you?
O'BRIEN: Reality challenged trees, I think is fair, as well.
SERWER: People buy them over the Internet now and Oregon is your number one tree gross state.
O'BRIEN: I did that one year. They delivered it to my house.
SERWER: Yes?
O'BRIEN: It worked great. SERWER: It works?
O'BRIEN: I didn't have to haul it home from downtown, you know, on the street.
SERWER: I'd like to see it.
Well, all right. It worked?
O'BRIEN: Yes, it worked great.
SERWER: OK.
O'BRIEN: What other areas are booming?
SERWER: We want to talk a little bit about cards. Of course, a big, big day for Hallmark, Christmas being the number one holiday far and away for cards. Two billion cards Americans send out for Christmas. That is a lot of cards.
O'BRIEN: Do people e-mail cards? I mean, you know...
SERWER: We're going to talk about that, because the number of cards is down a little bit over the past few years and e-mailing cards has taken up a little bit of steam. But to me, that's just so wrong. Right?
O'BRIEN: It's not as nice.
SERWER: The average American family sends and receives 28 cards.
O'BRIEN: You had a list there of all the cards, Christmas being the first holiday and then after that Valentine's Day.
SERWER: Valentine's Day, Mother's Day...
O'BRIEN: Easter.
SERWER: ... Easter, Father's Day, yes. It's kind of interesting, isn't it?
O'BRIEN: And, finally, fruitcakes.
SERWER: Yes, you know, this is one of these beat it up, go ahead, you don't like it, use it as a doorstop, get out your Don Rickles lines. Ooh, see, that does not look terribly appealing.
O'BRIEN: No.
SERWER: But, you know what? They sell, Soledad. I think it's some five million fruitcakes per year are bought.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
SERWER: It's a $15 million business. And, you know, it just keeps on ticking. O'BRIEN: Amazing to me.
SERWER: I'm not a fan, but some people are.
O'BRIEN: Then you're not going to like the one that I got you for Christmas.
SERWER: Ah! Oh no!
O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer, as always, thanks so much.
SERWER: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 25, 2003 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Besides every retailer who ever hired a Santa, who else is cashing in on Christmas? Think trees, cards, the fruitcake. Just how much money is being made this holiday season?
Andy Serwer is minding your business this morning.
Hey, happy holidays.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Merry Christmas to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
SERWER: I hope it's not crass to talk about money.
O'BRIEN: No, please, go ahead.
SERWER: But, you know, it's light-hearted fare and, you know, Christmas is a big holiday. It's a big business for a lot of companies and people out there. And Christmas trees is a part of that. It's a billion dollar business in America. And in case you haven't noticed, artificial trees -- I don't call them fake trees -- artificial trees have been growing and growing and growing. There are some real ones and they really are beautiful, aren't they? We have one in our house and let me tell you something, in New York City they cost a pretty penny.
But here's the thing. Artificial trees have been growing versus real trees over the years. Now, seven out of the 10 trees are artificial trees. You can see the numbers here. And this is opposed to in 1990, when it was 50-50. You can see the -- why do we call them fake? They're artificial.
O'BRIEN: I have fake...
SERWER: Fake works for you?
O'BRIEN: Reality challenged trees, I think is fair, as well.
SERWER: People buy them over the Internet now and Oregon is your number one tree gross state.
O'BRIEN: I did that one year. They delivered it to my house.
SERWER: Yes?
O'BRIEN: It worked great. SERWER: It works?
O'BRIEN: I didn't have to haul it home from downtown, you know, on the street.
SERWER: I'd like to see it.
Well, all right. It worked?
O'BRIEN: Yes, it worked great.
SERWER: OK.
O'BRIEN: What other areas are booming?
SERWER: We want to talk a little bit about cards. Of course, a big, big day for Hallmark, Christmas being the number one holiday far and away for cards. Two billion cards Americans send out for Christmas. That is a lot of cards.
O'BRIEN: Do people e-mail cards? I mean, you know...
SERWER: We're going to talk about that, because the number of cards is down a little bit over the past few years and e-mailing cards has taken up a little bit of steam. But to me, that's just so wrong. Right?
O'BRIEN: It's not as nice.
SERWER: The average American family sends and receives 28 cards.
O'BRIEN: You had a list there of all the cards, Christmas being the first holiday and then after that Valentine's Day.
SERWER: Valentine's Day, Mother's Day...
O'BRIEN: Easter.
SERWER: ... Easter, Father's Day, yes. It's kind of interesting, isn't it?
O'BRIEN: And, finally, fruitcakes.
SERWER: Yes, you know, this is one of these beat it up, go ahead, you don't like it, use it as a doorstop, get out your Don Rickles lines. Ooh, see, that does not look terribly appealing.
O'BRIEN: No.
SERWER: But, you know what? They sell, Soledad. I think it's some five million fruitcakes per year are bought.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
SERWER: It's a $15 million business. And, you know, it just keeps on ticking. O'BRIEN: Amazing to me.
SERWER: I'm not a fan, but some people are.
O'BRIEN: Then you're not going to like the one that I got you for Christmas.
SERWER: Ah! Oh no!
O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer, as always, thanks so much.
SERWER: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
