Submitted photo
Lloyd's Tree Lot on 280 is the last stop for Bobby D's Christmas trees after a long journey from their roots in Boone, NC.
Every Christmas for the last 27 years, Chelsea resident Eric Turner has made the drive up U.S. 280 to the lot next to the now-closed Lloyd’s Restaurant to buy his Christmas trees.
“For me, it is important to know the people I buy things from,” Turner said. “When my family moved to Chelsea years ago, we needed a Christmas tree, and we stopped by the Christmas tree lot at the old Lloyd’s Restaurant on 280, and that is how it all started.”
Turner has been buying his family’s Christmas tree from Bobby D’s Christmas Tree lot since 1997.
“We became friends with the Daniels family and just really liked them,” Turner said. “We had a lot of things in common with them, and that is what really prompted us to keep returning. They are just good people to know. We have a large den area in our home and we like to always go buy an 11-, 12- or 13-foot tree.”
This year will be the last one at the lot where so many 280 residents have bought their Christmas trees, but the Daniels family, who owns Bobby D’s Christmas Tree lot, will continue to sell their trees at a location on Alabama 119.
Submitted photo
Bob Daniels Sr (L) and Bob Daniels Jr (R) of Bobby D's Christmas Trees in Boone, NC. These men are the first two generations of Bobby D's Christmas Trees, with their grandson/son Josh being the third.
Josh Daniels is the third-generation family member who currently works the family farm in North Carolina. His grandfather, Bob Daniels Sr., and father, Bob Jr., were the first to plant trees on their family farm.
“In this area, there were a lot of cabbage and potato producers,” Josh Daniels said. “My dad and grandfather grew cabbage, but they found out in the mid-’70s that our elevation was perfect for Christmas trees. They planted their first trees in the late ’70s, after my dad graduated from high school.”
The trees grow in the town of Newland in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where elevation is about 3,000 feet. According to the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association, the state provides 20% of the country’s Christmas trees.
Daniels said the trees on their farm are grown from seedlings, so customers who purchase a tree that is 6 or 7 feet tall are purchasing a tree that is roughly the same age as its height.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize that when they buy a tree, that tree has been around for a while,” he said. “If you buy a 10-foot tree, we have been growing it for about 10 or 11 years.”
Daniels, who was born in 1983, grew up with his family selling Christmas trees, and now he spends the majority of his time helping his father with the business.
“I started helping him, and he has gotten to an age where he wants to slow down and retire and I am taking the reins, but he is still the patriarch,” he said.
Daniels said the family first came to Lloyd’s to sell Christmas trees because Eli Stevens, the former owner of Lloyd’s, was a family friend. And, he said, his parents still enjoy coming to Birmingham.
“My parents go down to the lot and we just really enjoy interacting with the customers,” he said. “A lot of them we have gotten to know over the years and we always have a really good time during the Christmas season.”
With the passing of Stevens in 2020, the Daniels family worked with his family to continue selling the trees in Birmingham.
“We knew things would maybe be changing ... because Eli passed away, so we thought we were going to have to find a new location this year, but thankfully we have one more year in that location,” Daniels said.
The lot opened the weekend before Thanksgiving this year and will remain open until they sell all of their trees.
Hurricane Helene hit surrounding counties near the family farm earlier this year, but their farm was OK, Daniels said, and was glad to be coming back for their final year at the Lloyd’s lot.
“We are really thankful for the Stevens family,” Daniels said. “They have been very gracious to my family over the years. They let us know in advance that they would be selling the restaurant and we would likely need to find another location, but because of leasing agreements and such, we were able to have the location for one more year.”
Next year, Daniels said the family will relocate to a location off Alabama 119 near Oak Mountain Elementary School.
While it is a tradition for the Daniels family to come to Alabama to sell their trees, it is an equally important tradition for the Turner family to buy a tree from Bobby D’s lot.
“My family goes every year after we finish our Thanksgiving meal to buy our tree,” Turner said. “I can’t imagine buying a tree from anybody else.”
Turner said oftentimes when his family tree is all decorated, people who visit his home will ask to take pictures in front of it.
“We just love the tradition of going and buying a tree from a family that has become really special to us,” Turner said. “I think if they ever went out of business or decided to stop selling trees, I would just switch to buying an artificial one. But, of course, I hope that never happens.”