The Five Families: New Doc Goes Into Cutthroat Christmas Tree Business Involving Mafia And Murder

When it comes to the symbols of Christmas, a Christmas tree would most certainly be at the top of the list. But if you examine the business behind the ancient jewels, you’ll find out that it’s as cutthroat as cutthroat gets.

Prime Video released a trailer Monday for an upcoming documentary that goes into how the sausage is made when it comes to the Christmas tree business, specifically for five families who own businesses in New York City — a Mecca for Christmas trees.

The families, who tell their stories in “The Merchants of Joy,” have been selling holiday trees for years. And in the process of this, they’ve had to deal with the mafia, cancer and even murder. (RELATED: New Netflix Docuseries Goes Inside One Of Bloodiest Mafia Wars Ever, And Looks Like Absolute Must-Watch)

“We’re the five families of Christmas,” NYC Tree Shop’s George Smith says.

“Who’s to pay off the mafia?” asks one individual, while Uptown Christmas Trees’ George Nash says, “There was a competitor murdered.”

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The five families have the goal of bringing out the Christmas spirit every year, however, they also get extraordinarily competitive as they fight to get the most customers in the Big Apple.

“Every place has their own unique Christmas experience, but there’s no place like New York,” says one person in the trailer.

The trailer shows the five families cutting down and collecting Christmas trees as a woman in the documentary explains that the business is even more competitive from the standpoint that all of their money is made in just five weeks.

On top of that, they also have to battle another element in rain, which can be harmful to their businesses.

“It took me getting cancer to realize I should stop and smell the roses a little bit more,” says Greg’s Tree’s Greg Walsh. “It all goes down to nothing at the end, so you might as well be happy.”