Throughout most of the year, North Carolina’s own Harvey and Sons looks like a typical commercial fishing supplier, displaying stacks of brightly colored traps, also known as crab pots, among its products.
During the holiday season, though, owner Nicky Harvey’s space becomes a winter wonderland. The Carteret County Farm Bureau member was faced with leftover materials as a result of the variable nature of the fishing industry, and he didn’t want to let the goods go to waste. He began experimenting with triangles of coated wire mesh, and eventually the Core Sound Christmas Tree was born.
The crab pot tree was an immediate hit among friends and family, who loved the unique spin on the local product.
Harvey, however, wasn’t quite satisfied with the design, so he kept experimenting with the crab pot trees until he found a way to string them with lights and still allow them to be folded flat, while keeping the lights in place. The lighted crab pot trees are now available in a variety of sizes, from 1.5 to 8 feet, with both LED and incandescent light options.
Since 2004, the seasonal business has sold more than 100,000 trees throughout the U.S. and overseas. To learn more about the Beaufort-based business or to purchase your own tree, call (252) 729-0301 or visit crabpottrees.com.
– Cara Sanders
