HONOLULU -- Hundreds of Oahu residents without a Christmas tree swamped a seller at Ala Moana Center on Thursday for a chance to buy ones flown in from the Pacific Northwest.

There were about 400 people in line at 1 p.m. Workers said it posed a potential hazard so they began selling shortly before 2 p.m. instead of at 3 p.m. when they were scheduled to open.

The crowd was so large it created a traffic jam on Piikoi Street. That is when mall management stepped in and had the vender start selling early.

Images: Oahu Residents Hunt For Christmas Trees

Richard Tajiri's Christmas Hawaii shipped the trees by air. The trees were cut on Monday, trucked from Oregon to Los Angeles and flown to Honolulu, workers said. More than 600 trees arrived on Thursday morning at Honolulu International Airport by Pacific Air Cargo. Another 100 arrived by Hawaiian Airlines Cargo.

Tajiri estimated that he would sell out in about four hours from opening to customers. Workers let 25 people in at a time to select their trees.

People lined up starting at 6 a.m. the trees at Tajiri's tree lot on the Ewa-makai side of the Ala Moana Center parking lot, workers said.

The trees sold for a low of $52.95 to $95.

About 200 people in line for the trees went home empty handed.

A Palolo backyard tree farmer is offering to part with a few of his norfolk pines as an alternative to a plastic tree, or no tree at all.

Todd Bradley just cut down some trees on Thursday. He usually shares the trees on his lot with friends and family, but with a couple of extra dozen he said he is willing to make them available if someone still really needs a tree.

"We didn't kill any trees to get this. They are very green and they are super fresh and they will last about three months," Bradley said.

For $50 an 8 foot island-style Christmas tree could stand in.

If you are interested you can call Bradley at 222-1427.

Many stores around the state ran out of trees in the past week or earlier.

There was a shortage five years ago that left many Hawaii homes without a fresh tree. Many retail stores have also run out of artificial trees.