🎅🎄Here’s How Much NYC Christmas Tree Street Vendors Are Making

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Hi friends,

Growing up, it was a tradition every year to go out back into the woods behind our house and chop down our own Christmas tree. 

Now, living in NYC, the Christmas tree tradition is very different. Walking outside, I’ve got my pick of several vendors that have been in the same locations for the last 7 years since I’ve been here. For about $100 in cash, I can drag home a nice 5 foot tree.

The vendors set up right after Thanksgiving and are open all hours right up until Christmas Day. 

Last week I wrote about the Christmas bar pop-up, Miracle, and I’m still in the holiday spirit this week, so I figured I’d take a look at another fun holiday business - Christmas tree street vendors in NYC.

While this may not feel like a real estate story, these annual pop-up vendors are renting space in the city (sometimes with cash, but not always!), and inhabiting the streets with us for the last month of the year.

Think of it as another holiday pop-up real estate story. 

Let’s dig in.

Who are these mysterious people that sell trees on the streets of NYC?

There are only a handful of groups operating most of the stands that you see in Manhattan and surrounding areas. Most have been operating for years in the same location, often passed down through family. The operators typically recruit out-of-towners to sell the trees, with jobs often going to northerners that are able to withstand the bitter cold of the NYC December nights. The shifts last 12 hours, either a day shift or a night shift. Believe it or not, these are highly coveted positions, with waiting lists to work every year!

For more information on the brave souls that take on this job and some background info on the groups behind them, this article is a great resource.

Are these businesses even legal? 

Short answer, yes. Some permits are granted from the NYC Dept of Parks and Recreation, from $1k to $50k in some of the most coveted, high traffic areas. Many of the stands are unregulated and fall into a gray area. In fact, many are operating from an old administrative code from 1938 that states the following:

“storekeepers and peddlers may sell and display coniferous trees during the month of December on a city sidewalk without a permit, as long as they have the permission of owners fronting the sidewalk and keep a corridor open for pedestrians.”

As one can imagine, this can lead to some territorial disputes and negotiations as to who sets up and where. To enter this market, you are likely paying off neighboring stores and trying to distance yourself from other local tree vendors.

Let’s cut to the chase. How much are these tree slingers making?

While the overall sales breakdown of these stands could vary by location, we’ll just take a look at what may be considered an average stand.

Uptown Christmas Trees, one of the larger vendors, with 19 locations, estimates that they will sell over 17k trees. This breaks down to about 895 trees per location and about 30 tree sales per day. It is estimated that Christmas trees the last couple years have averaged around $81 per tree. 

Using these numbers, we can estimate that one stand is able to generate over $72k in sales for the month. 

With 19 stands, that’s $1.37M in gross revenue!

What is the cost breakdown?

• Wholesale trees: Different tree sizes and types will have different wholesale costs and markups. The above referenced article from 2018 stated wholesale prices between $12.50 - $35 (reported before 2018), and a 3x markup on premium trees. I’ll assume the tree costs, on average, are about 30% of the sale price. 

• Transport: For a 1-2 day trip, carrying 800 trees, I’m assuming the driver can charge $1,500 per day for a 2-day trip.

• Labor: Each stand employs 2 people - one on a day shift and one on a night shift, each working 12 hour days for the month. These employees make about $5,500 for the month, plus tips from customers. 

• Employee housing: This article states that the employees have housing in Harlem. I don’t know what type of housing this would be, but I’m going to assume each employee housing unit costs $2k

• Rent: Some stands are paying rent in the form of permits to the city, some pay nothing, and others are paying small fees to the shops in the area. I’m going to take the middle ground for our average stand and say they’re paying $2k to local storefronts for the month.

• Startup Costs and Utilities: When the vendors arrive, they typically build a small shed and may have a heater and lights. I’m going to make another assumption that they are paying another $2k in these startup costs and utilities for the month.  

Here’s what a sample cost breakdown may look like:

While there are certainly other cost items here for additional overhead, it serves as a good overview of how a business like this may operate. 

With total sales of $72,474 and costs of $44,097, this hypothetical stand is netting $28,376.

Not bad for one month of business!

Should you open a Christmas tree stand??

While the unit economics look attractive at scale, market penetration in NYC would be difficult at this point. You’d likely be fighting with other stands and paying off stores to set up shop. There are likely pockets in the boroughs where you could gain a foothold, but as you can see with other top vendors, it’s a multi-generational play, and markets are built slowly over long periods of time.

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That’s it for today! Happy Holidays!

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