A 115-foot-tall Christmas tree arrived Monday at Citadel Outlets in Commerce after a three-day journey from Northern California, with Santa Claus on hand to welcome what organizers are billing as the world’s tallest fresh-cut Christmas tree.
The white fir traveled more than 600 miles from Mount Shasta to the shopping center, where it arrived Monday morning for installation in Center Court at Citadel Outlets, 100 Citadel Drive, according to organizers.
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Commerce. Today, the big man in red welcomed the World’s Tallest Fresh-Cut Christmas Tree at Citadel Outlets,” according to a statement from organizers.
Workers will spend the next two weeks decorating the tree for the Nov. 7 lighting ceremony.
According to organizers, the tree will be adorned with more than 18,000 multicolored lights and 10,000 ornaments and bows.
Workers will also add more than 1,000 branches to improve the tree’s shape before applying a fire-retardant coating.
The 115-foot white fir was selected by Victor Serrao, owner of Victor’s Christmas Trees, a Southern California family business with more than 50 years of experience sourcing and installing large Christmas trees.
Before beginning its journey south, the tree’s extra-wide branches were trimmed and the fir was secured to a flatbed truck for transportation, organizers said.
The tree stands 25 feet taller than the Santa Monica Pier Ferris wheel, 35 feet taller than the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and 38 feet taller than Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, according to organizers.
It is also 70 feet taller than the Hollywood Sign.
The installation is part of an annual holiday tradition at Citadel Outlets, which features an oversized Christmas tree as the centerpiece of its seasonal celebrations.