We see them all over Manhattan just after Thanksgiving. They come in, set up impromptu villages, and are gone in 35 days. Their mission: they're the folks who want to sell you a Christmas tree, and they are the subject of the sweet and exuberant new documentary The Merchants of Joy.
Think about it: you pass by them in the joyous Christmas season but rarely consider what drives them. Director Celia Aniskovich and writer Owen Long profile five families—Greg Nash and his son Little Greg, Heather Neville, Ciree Nash, George Smith, and Jane Waterman and George Nash–and follow them from planting to harvesting to sales on the street. We're with them as they transport goods, negotiate, and seal the deal. Selling trees is not an easy gig: the big stores (i.e., Whole Foods) underprice them ("We have to make four times what we paid for our tree to break even"), yet they keep coming as reliably as the holiday season.
Greg Walsh of Greg's Trees—who resembles Santa with his full white beard (and who plays that role to the hilt)—anticipates his son, little Greg (over six feet tall and camera-shy), taking over the business while diversifying into selling roses during the rest of the year. "You'll never make it just selling trees," Greg contends. George Smith shares the story of finding his soulmate. Tough-as-nails Heather Nevelle holds firm and takes names. Ciree Nash is the information center of the operation. George Nash and Jane Waterman run a family business from which George, at least, is about to retire.
We spend time with them on the lots, making deliveries, and at home. What emerges is a look at a subculture of folks who resemble vagabonds but are, at heart, serious businesspeople. The Merchants of Joy shows them off to great advantage: We see squabbles over turf when a rival tree company sets up across the street, and are given a window into interpersonal relationships. Each of them has a particular area of expertise. Ciree is especially proud of hiring the "the unhireables," folks who have been in jail, offering them the unique opportunity to make an honest return to society on terms they can live with.
The Merchants of Joy's pacing is jaunty. We move quickly from one issue to the next. It's a measure of the documentarians' skill that we get to know these people quickly, so when one is felled by a cancer diagnosis, it gives us pause. Discussion of long-term goals as well as criminal records keep things lively in the brisk 90-minute runtime.
The Merchants of Joy ends up being a celebration not only of Christmas but of New York City as well. "You're only as happy as you choose to be," one of the sellers asserts. The film trusts that adage, as well as the philosophy that there's "a person for every tree."
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The Merchants of Joy. Directed by Celia Aniskovich. An Amazon Prime Original. Runtime 90 minutes. On Prime Video.