Dan Hayes has been slinging Christmas trees across South LA for 41 years, bouncing between lots before settling on the corner of Slauson Avenue and Overhill Drive for the last seven years.
“It’s a lot of work,” Hayes, 73, said in between rounds of dusting trees with a flocking machine. “But I like the camaraderie with the customers. That’s the best part about it.”
Hayes, who lives in Inglewood, said some customers have become regulars at Dan’s Tree Lot, with some even following his business from spot to spot.
He starts off each holiday season with 1,400 trees. Some years he sells out, and in most he turns a profit, he said. In others, he breaks even or operates at a loss. Trees run between $41 and $350, before additions like stands or flocking.
When he started selling trees, Hayes did it for fun. The economic boost kept him going for years.
Now, he said, it’s become more of a hobby.
“I got hooked. It’s like being a junkie. Can’t walk away,” Hayes said.
Isaiah Murtaugh/The LA Local
Hayes’ lot is a family affair. Dana Robinson, his daughter, has been hanging out at the seasonal lot since she was a child. Ever since she moved to Nevada three years ago, she returns to LA each year to work at the lot as the self-styled administrative “mini-boss.”
The work is emotionally rewarding and turns enough profit that Robinson hopes to take over part of the business and open a second Dan’s Tree Lot near her home in Nevada.
“Seeing families coming in, little kids running through the trees, smiling, taking pictures, I love it all,” she said.
JR Robinson, the lot’s jack-of-all-trades and Hayes’ nephew, was recruited into the business 25 years ago.
“He taught me everything I know,” JR Robinson said.
The work itself isn’t easy. Hayes wears a mask while flocking trees to avoid inhaling the cloud of red dust. Family members stay at the lot overnight to guard against tree theft. Hayes said he lost a few trees to thieves early in his career, but hasn’t seen any stolen in years.
For years, Hayes worked most of the year as an engineer, using vacation time to run the tree business over the winter. Though he’s now retired from his full-time job, he said he’ll keep selling trees as long as health and finances allow. He estimated he has three or four years left in him before he calls it quits and turns the business over to the next generation.
“I had a great run,” he said. “To see them take over, her and her brother? Hey, can’t ask for more.”
