Nothing beats the experience of packing up the family into the car and heading out to find the perfect Christmas tree to display during the holiday season.
Since 1950, the Vario family has been helping families throughout the Tooele Valley and surrounding areas find that perfect tree. Ernie and Dorothy Vario first started selling trees in Ophir and slowly moved their business, Vario’s Christmas Trees, to Tooele on and around Main Street starting in the 1960s, sometimes in several locations in the same year.
Now their son, Pat Vario, and his wife, Julie, sell the trees from the backyard of their Utah Avenue house and have since 1993. Numerous family members have helped since and continue to assist in the business.
“We have about 10 grandchildren that work down here after school and on the weekends,” Pat said. “It is a true family business.”
Things sure have changed since 1950 in the Christmas tree business. Back when Ernie and Dorothy started out, the trees were all mountain trees that were cut down in the area when that was allowed. But with the evolving wants and needs of customers, Vario’s Christmas Trees has also evolved.
“It is a whole different field out there now because it all used to be wild trees,” Pat said. “Three years ago I started with trees that are grown specifically for Christmas trees and it has helped save my business.”
The Varios get all of their farmed trees from an Oregon tree farm, while the mountain trees come from nearby areas.
Julie admits that founder Ernie would roll over in his grave to find out that they are selling farmed Christmas trees in addition to mountain trees, but she said they know farmed trees have helped the Christmas tree business evolve and survive.
“Land restrictions that are now placed make it difficult to get trees from the land so the farmed trees help out quite a bit,” Julie said.
When it comes to ordering the right amount of trees for the season, Pat is usually dead-on.
“We rarely have an excess of trees at the end of the year,” he said.
He added it really depends on the customer as to which tree is the most popular.
“It really depends on if people like the noble tree that are the farmed trees or the pinon, which grow wild in the area,” Pat said.
The Varios can even flock, or cover in fake snow, in their backyard.
Pat said his motto is how he stays in business and keeps his customers.
“I would rather keep a customer around because of my low prices instead of gouging them one time with an inflated price,” he said.
That philosophy seems to be working for the Vario family as they have an estimated 400 regular customers who come around each holiday season, including a number of families that come from the Salt Lake area to pick out their tree.
Satisfaction is guaranteed with a tree from the Vario lot as Pat mentioned if there is ever a problem with one of his trees he will replace it with another one.
The Vario family does have competition from big-box stores that sell trees and also from the popularity of artificial trees, but Pat says people keep coming back to their lot because of the experience they offer.
“People come around here and see the whole atmosphere with our horses right next to the trees and like the real tree experience,” Vario said. “Plugging in a fake tree into a wall is not an experience.”
Aside from the vast rows of trees, Vario’s Christmas Trees offers a few extras when people come to their lot. From the fire pit to the Christmas lights that deck out the yard at night, everything is there to help customers enjoy their experience and get in the holiday spirit. Even Santa Claus has been known to stop by on Saturdays leading up to Christmas.
Vario’s Christmas Trees is located at 381 W. Utah Ave. in Tooele. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com
Post a Comment
