Come December, South Philly residents monitor the patch of concrete in front of the Philly Pretzel Factory on Broad and Passyunk, waiting for Freddy Florio to set up his small forest of Christmas trees for sale. And since 2004, Florio and his cugine have shown up, operating Tree World for three weeks of the year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Enticed by the convenient location and affordable trees—ranging between $30-120—South Philadelphians return to Tree World every year.
“Just being loyal and just keeping a nice tree out here for a good price…they just keep coming back,” Florio said.
But if customers come for the good location and prices, they return every year for the stories they collect.
“One year, two of the sellers were in a heated argument over how much creamer to put in their coffee,” said Bart Everts, a Lower Moyamensing resident. “This year they showed me how you could make the trimmed trunk pieces into an ornament.”
Kevin Rodgers of Point Breeze was a first-time Tree World customer this year.
“I’ve seen them there in the past, but always assumed they would be overpriced, and I didn’t want to deal with haggling and negotiating,” he said. “I was very wrong.”
After Florio quoted a price for a tree, Rodgers mentioned that Home Depot had similar trees for cheaper.
“He said he would go to Home Depot with me and if I found a tree as nice as the one I picked out for less, he would buy it for me, but if I didn’t, I would have to pay double for the one I wanted from him,” Rodgers recalled. “This was all in good fun. I ended up buying the tree I wanted from him, for slightly less than originally quoted.
Tree World is open 24 hours because Florio has nowhere to safely store the trees at night. He said he’s served customers in the wee morning hours, some inebriated after a night out.
“They’re coming from Passyunk Avenue, a bottle of wine [in one hand], and a tree in another hand,” Florio said.
Police officers have even expressed gratitude, linking Tree World’s nightly presence to lower crime, Florio insisted.
Prior to setting up shop outside of the Pretzel Factory, Florio, born and raised in Italian Market, operated Tree World at 16th and Passyunk with his brother. He took over the operation in 1994. In the other 11 months of the year, Florio is a contractor, but the stand is the best way to connect to the community, he said.
“I’ve watched kids grow up over 29 years. They start coming in when they’re little kids. Now they’re coming with their families buying a tree,” Florio said. “So you see a lot in 29 years, you know?”
Tree World will sell about 1,000 trees this year, a fraction of the numbers Florio and his brother did three decades ago, when they could expect to sell a few thousand each year. Florio’s staff is smaller, too. Back then, he had a staff of 15-20 people. Now he has about four guys helping out, mostly young people from the neighborhood working for tip money, and a few friends.
Businesses on Passyunk Avenue have suffered in recent years, according to Juana Tamale owner Jennifer Zavala.
Zavala has bought trees from Florio and other 24-hour Christmas tree stands in the area over the past 15 years, and wanted to help them out this year. She approached Florio and suggested offering a deal to Tree World customers: If someone buys a tree from Florio, they get $5 off at Juana Tamale, and likewise, Juana Tamale customers get a discount at Tree World. Florio agreed and wanted to extend the offer to every small business on the avenue. In past years, Florio has donated extra trees to neighboring churches.
“It was really important to him. He kind of went on about it and just acknowledged that everyone was having a hard time,” Zavala said. “[He was] trying to get everyone to feel a little holiday spirit. A little bit goes a long way.”
The two business owners supporting each other aligns with the community’s ethos of supporting small businesses, Zavala said.
“They are the people that will stand behind you and support you. It would be a bummer to look out next year and not see Freddy out there.”
The entire Christmas tree industry has taken a hit recently, threatening small tree sellers like Tree World. In addition to a shortage due to fewer planted seedlings and less rainfall, younger generations of farming dynasties are less interested in continuing their families business, Florio said. Though he has fewer vendors, Florio still works with a rotating set of about 50 tree farmers across the country.
And as long as he can keep sourcing the trees, he plans to keep selling them.
“I enjoy being here,” Florio said. “I like to see the kids smile, the families happy.”
