San Francisco families buy Christmas trees in Thanksgiving holiday tradition

Friday, November 29, 2024 10:07AM PT
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- At Clancy's Christmas Trees in San Francisco's Inner Sunset neighborhood, two holidays meshed perfectly together on Thursday.

With a little holiday cheer and even singing present in the background, Stephen Clancy sat down with his family and staff to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.

"It started when we used to get our first load of Christmas trees on Thanksgiving and we'd have customers start coming in, oh we can come buy a tree. And so that just turned into us having Thanksgiving here," Clancy said.

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But that's not the only tradition happening here.



Since opening in 1949, Clancy's has welcomed thousands of people looking to buy Christmas trees on Thanksgiving night.

"We have customers that bought trees from my grandfather, from my father and from myself. And it's so fun seeing new faces and same faces that we see every year," Clancy said.

Two familiar faces are Sophie Gregory and Yikoshi Yotake, who found their special tree Thursday night.

"We'll see if it fits in our apartment. We live in a small apartment so it might be a bit of a struggle," Gregory said.

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The pair say they've been coming to Clancy's for years and value the family run business in the heart of San Francisco.



They also tell us they're wasting no time in starting their decorating.

"Oh no, right after. As soon as we get home...It's what we like to do because you've got the Thanksgiving meal and then you come home and you want to lounge around, play some movies and set up for Christmas," the two said.

With less than four weeks to go until Christmas, Clancy says he's expecting a busy season.

And for everyone willing to stop by, he just wants to say thanks.



"We always have fresh trees for you and we just really appreciate you guys. And come start a tradition with us, we appreciate it," Clancy said.

Creating memories, one family tradition at a time.


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