The agreement to end the NBA lockout has restored thousands of jobs, but one budding business has seen its sales take a dive since the announcement.
“A lot of NBA guys buy from me,” said J-Bone Herrera, who sells his product behind a supermarket in Queens. “I got the primo stuff ya know; trees that make ya friends jealous.”
With hundreds of millionaires out of work, retailers expected NBA stars to roll up to their spots in their SUVs, but with games fast approaching, they will likely only make transactions with lowly entourage members or personal assistants at best.
“I had no plans of buying that kinda thing anyway this holiday season,” Knicks big-man Amar’e Stoudemire stated. “I already have what I need, but I’ll only be lighting up for eight days.”
While sellers like J-Bone have seen sales take a dip, others have reported similar numbers to previous years.
“I know there’s a lot of that fake stuff being peddled, but our numbers are good so far,” said Flip Hoffman, veteran tree dealer. “I’ve been doing this for 15 years now, people are always gonna need what I’ve got, especially at this time of year.”
Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, a known proponent for trees, said he’d be happy to help the struggling sellers by buying out their stock if sales don’t pick up.
“Nothing better to do when it’s cold outside,” Melo said. “I just picked up some of that Blue Spruce; makes the house smell right!”
When asked what his favorite decoration on the Christmas tree would be, he replied, “Christmas tree?!” and ran out of the gym.
By Vin Conzo. Follow him on Twitter!
