ELK RIDGE, Utah — A local Christmas tree business in Elk Ridge is going viral on social media, less than two weeks from the opening of the season.
The owner says he accidentally stumbled onto online fame and may need some extra trees this year.
“I thought it’d be kinda funny, I didn’t think it’d be that funny. It’s crazy , the comments are probably the funniest part about it all,” said Derek Peterson, Owner of Peterson Tree Care.
In just four days, the Peterson Christmas Tree TikTok video already has over a million views, and it’s putting Utah on the map for Christmas trees.
Peterson says this video was recorded last year, but they decided to repost it ahead of this season.
“Last few days it pretty much just went viral, it’s just been kinda crazy,” said Peterson.
With thousands of comments, shares, and likes, Derek says the unexpected viral response followed their surprisingly successful season during a pandemic.
“My family, friends, everybody is like, 'Oh, you’re crazy, you shouldn’t do it this year,' and I’m like, 'Well, we’re doing it, so,'” said Peterson.
Despite concerns of slow business, the farm sold out in just 11 days in 2020. This made for a new record and they celebrated by making the viral video.
“I happen to just be driving down the road and that song came on and I thought, we oughta do a dance to that, it would be kinda funny. We did a rehearsal a few days before and the guys weren’t really into it that much. We got him to get on the pole and do an inverted spin, it was kind of that moment we knew we had something special,” explained Peterson.
This free advertisement on the popular social media app has some people online saying they want to come from as far as New York City.
“We’ve had people saying we’re gonna get a bus, just a lot of ladies are gonna come out and get a tree, they have a fake tree but they want real trees," said Peterson. "It’s just kinda fun having relationships with people and seeing how far they travel and stuff like that. We kinda try to make it a magical moment.”
At Peterson Farms, they try to make their tree stand like a Hallmark moment, with a fire place, Santa, music, and more.
Derek says he was inspired to get into the Christmas tree business because of his dad.
“My dad did it when I was little, selling Christmas trees, so we kept the tradition. Unfortunately, he passed away when I was younger, truly enjoy doing things that he did."
Peterson recommends shopping local for your tree, especially this season.
“A lot of these places from Oregon and these big box stores that get the trees from far away. I know they’re having a harder time, they start cutting those trees in October. All our trees are getting cut right now, they’re fresh and they’re from Utah so we shouldn’t have a shortage of local trees.”
Peterson Christmas Trees will open on November 22nd. And yes, the guys plan on making a brand new TikTok video this season.
