Marketplace Morning Report

Episode: The Life of a Christmas Tree Seller
Date: December 17, 2025
Host: Sabri Benishore (in for David Brancaccio)
Featured Guest: June Hagen, Night Shift Tree Seller

Episode Overview

This episode of Marketplace Morning Report dives into the lived experience of working the night shift at a New York City Christmas tree lot, exploring what motivates late-night shoppers, the unique challenges and rewards of the job, and the economic context surrounding the holiday season. The episode opens with a quick consumer spending update and a brief note on major business news, then spends the bulk of its content in a candid field interview with June Hagen, who sells Christmas trees overnight in Harlem.

Key Discussion Points

1. State of Holiday Consumer Spending

• Flat Retail Sales:
  • October retail sales were "virtually unchanged from September, but it's still solid."
  • (00:54) Nancy Marshall Genzer notes, "People say they're worried about things like inflation and job security, but then they go out and spend."
• Top Holiday Sellers:
  • Furniture, home furnishings, sports/hobbies, books/music, clothing, electronics, and appliances are seeing healthy sales.
• Cutbacks:
  • "There was a sharp pullback in auto sales... spending was down at bars and restaurants." (01:42)
• Wealth Gap in Spending:
  • Higher-income consumers continue spending and traveling, with a Bank of America report showing a 2.5% increase in spending among affluent households, versus just 0.5% among lower-income shoppers.

2. Big Tech Business News

• Amazon & OpenAI Talks
  • Amazon in negotiations to invest at least $10 billion in OpenAI, potentially valuing OpenAI at over $500 billion and involving the use of Amazon's chips. (02:33)
  • Amazon stock up 1.8% premarket.

3. "What's That Like": Life as a Christmas Tree Seller

Setting the Scene

• The segment visits a Christmas tree stand in West Harlem, just after midnight, where these lots operate 24/7 to meet NYC's unique demand.
• Interview conducted with June Hagen, 28, on the night shift.

Tree Seller Realities

• Types of Trees:
  • "Right now we have balsam firs here on this front rack and on the back rack we've got Frasers." – June Hagen (05:01)
  • The ambiance: snow falling on Frasier firs looks "like you're in a crazy magical forest."
• Pricing Ambiguities:
  • "People come up to me all the time, like, how much are the trees? I'm like, would you walk onto a car lot and be like, how much is a car? Like, it really depends on what you're looking for." – June Hagen (05:20)

Why Sell Trees Overnight?

• NYC is a service industry town with many late-shift workers; thus, demand exists at all hours.
• "If they're getting off at 2 in the morning or 4 in the morning or 5, more than that, it's that we can't move this inventory. Someone's gotta be here to keep an eye on it, to keep things clean. And if someone's going to be here, we may as well be open." – June Hagen (05:41)

Routine and Challenges of the Night Shift

• Colder Nights:
  • Small "Santa's workshop" hut provides brief respite from winter cold but can't be used all night lest the worker falls asleep.
  • "Honestly ... it's a 12 hour, 14 hour shift sometimes ... if you spend your whole night in the cozy little box, you fall asleep and that's no bueno." – June Hagen (06:22)
• Endless Cleaning:
  • "You're just always sweeping. Pine needles never end. It's like if you think one Christmas tree in your living room is bad, having 200 is insane." – June Hagen (06:43)
• Safety:
  • June isn't particularly anxious about safety, being a native New Yorker and relying on a "night watch" group text thread for support in case of trouble.
  • "Obviously. Yeah, stuff happens and you know, you have to use your best judgment about how to deal with it. But ... we all have a group thread and if something's ever freaking me out, I just text." – June Hagen (06:57)

Living Arrangements

• The company provides an apartment for sellers: eight people, divided among bedrooms and couches.
  • "It's comfortable, it's clean. I mean, as clean as it's gonna be living with, you know, four dudes..." – June Hagen (07:20)

Memorable Quotes

• On Pricing Trees:
  • “Would you walk onto a car lot and be like, how much is a car? Like, it really depends on what you're looking for.” – June Hagen (05:20)
• On Overnight Tree Sales:
  • "We can't move this inventory. Someone's gotta be here to keep an eye on it, to keep things clean. And if someone's going to be here, we may as well be open." – June Hagen (05:41)
• On Cleaning:
  • "Pine needles never end. It's like if you think one Christmas tree in your living room is bad, having 200 is insane." – June Hagen (06:43)
• On Community and Safety:
  • “We all have a group thread and if something's ever freaking me out, I just text the thread and be like, hey, what do I do in this situation?” – June Hagen (06:57)

Notable Timestamps

• 00:54 – 02:30: Consumer spending discussion with Nancy Marshall Genzer
• 02:33 – 03:08: Amazon-OpenAI business headline
• 04:09 – 07:36: In-depth segment with June Hagen, night-shift Christmas tree seller

Episode Tone

The episode blends Marketplace’s signature brisk, informative tone with a deeply human, lightly humorous look at the realities of working an unconventional holiday job. June’s voice is frank, witty, and relatable, painting a vivid picture of New York’s overnight economy and the people who keep its traditions alive.

Summary Takeaways

• The holiday shopping season is steady, but with notable disparities between income groups.
• Side note: Big moves brewing in the tech sector as Amazon eyes a major OpenAI investment.
• The heart of the episode is an intimate snapshot of life on a frigid New York sidewalk, with stories of pine needle battles, midnight sales to city workers, and camaraderie among those who keep the Christmas spirit awake, even while most of the city sleeps.