A Holiday Tradition: 33 Years of Selling Christmas Trees Together

PHOTO: The Gallery family aka Almost Heavenly Trees & Greenery, will be back Friday selling Christmas trees in Alexandria. (Left to right): Phil (Dad/co-founder), Tory (twin), Matt (oldest), Eva (2 years old), Monique (Nate’s wife), Nate, Shari (mom/co-founder), Emily. Family photo

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Friday will mark the 33rd year that the Gallery family has been selling Christmas trees in Alexandria. The trees come from the family’s farm in West Virginia.

The Christmas tree lot for Almost Heavenly Trees & Greenery is located at 5021 Seminary Road in Alexandria. Trees sell for between $20 for a three-foot tree to $175 for a 13-foot tree. (Anything larger requires a custom order.) The family also handles the North Ridge Citizens Association sale on Dec. 5-6 and Dec. 12-13. They also sell Christmas tree stands. They have customers who bought stands over 20 years ago and bring them back every year.

Hours for the lot are:

• Sunday-Thursday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Friday and Saturday: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The Gallery family includes four siblings: Emily, who just returned from serving in the Peace Corps in Azerbaijan and is working in DC. Her twin, Tory, works for Target and interviews local and regional musicians for her music blog. Matt, who has finished his MBA at the London Business School and started working at UBS in New York. Nate has opened his own gym in San Diego. His wife just finished a continuing education marketing certificate at the University of California San Diego and their daughter just turned 2.

All were raised on the tree farm in West Virginia and all put themselves through college (Duquesne University, Naval Academy, West Virginia University and Shepard University) with scholarships and money they earned on the tree farm.

Their parents will also be at the tree lot. Mom Shari is an active member of the arts council in Hampshire County, West Virginia and Dad Phil loves to play golf. Phil is a Senate Page School alumni, Naval Academy graduate (Nuclear Physics major) and Vietnam veteran and Shari received her MBA from George Washington University.

“Most people seem surprised at how much work it takes getting ready to sell trees,” Nate said in an email he wrote to Patch on Wednesday while flying to DC from San Diego.

The work requires licensing, insurance, banking and more. It requires arranging labor — “we use a lot of high school and college kids so building a schedule around their classes and sports practices is challenging,” he said.

The family also has to arrange tree cutting, wreath-making, garland-making, shipping and ordering stands. They also have to inspect all the tree lot equipment and sharpen saws.

“We split everything up into core business functions and then each of us manages the areas assigned to us so it really is still a family effort,” Nate said. “It’s challenging but we’re really trying to keep the family tradition going.”

Do you have a holiday story to tell? Please email maryann.barton@patch.com