Magic Fountain Is More Than Ice Cream

Summit residents can get more than just great ice cream at the Magic Fountain on Morris Ave. In the winter, they can get Christmas trees, wreathes and grave blankets, too.

"When we close the ice cream store, we sell the trees," says Magic Fountain owner Hugo Degidio.  Just because the temperature drops, that doesn't mean Degidio and his crew can take it easy. "We still have to pay rent, we still have expenses."

Those dropping temperatures not only preclude the sale of ice cream, but make working outside very difficult.

"It's a hard business, let me tell you," said Degidio. "It's cold out here."

Degidio usually sells from 20 to 40 trees a day on weekdays and closer to 120 on each weekend day. He has three or four crew members to help customers on weekdays, and seven or eight on the busier weekends. Crew members can do well for themselves on tips alone, but according to Degidio, "they really have to hustle. If you stand around with your hands in your pockets, you probably won't do too well."

At the start of the season, the weekend after Thanksgiving, he receives roughly 1,000 trees that come from Nova Scotia. Degidio says that some years he sells out, but some years he has trees left over. It is difficult to predict how many trees he will sell, and know the exact number until Christmas is over.

Available trees at the Magic Fountain are Balsams, which are the most popular trees, Douglas Firs, Frazier Firs and Nobles. An average-sized, six foot tree generally costs about $55, but Nobles are much more expensive and can run $100 or more for a six-footer.

"(The Noble is) a better tree, a classier tree," said Degidio.

2009-10 marks the 19th year Degidio has had trees on his lot, but says the old owners of the Magic Fountain began selling trees about 20 years before he took over. Degidio says he has seen a decline in the number of ice cream stores that sell Christmas trees in winter.

"Most of the seasonal businesses do it," he said. "But there are less and less because a lot of places are open all year, now."

The Magic Fountain is open and selling trees from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, between Thanksgiving and Christmas.