Big John Livaditis missed the birth of his second son because he was in Canada on Dec. 8, 1957, looking at Christmas trees. He was busy searching for the best firs, spruces and pines to bring home to Atlanta to sell.
“My great grandmother, my Yaya — my mom’s mom — was not too happy that he was still up there getting Christmas trees and working,” said Jimbo Livaditis.
“Back then there were no sonograms, so he didn’t know if he had a son or daughter or when I was born, and she wouldn’t tell him,” he said. His aunt, his mom’s sister, eventually made the call to tell Big John he had a new baby boy.
“I figured if Dad was up there getting Christmas trees kind of late in the season, that it must be in my blood to have to do Christmas trees,” he said.
Big John, who was literally a large man, started selling Christmas trees in Buckhead in 1949 from the parking lot of his other business, Zesto, located on Peachtree Road across from the Brookwood train station.
At the time, Zesto only sold ice cream. It made sense to supplement the family’s income by selling Christmas trees when the weather cooled.
The combination has been a success. This years marks the 75th anniversary of Big John’s Christmas Trees. Zesto also celebrated 75 years of business this year.
Big John died in 1995 and Jimbo and his older brother, Lee, took over Big John’s Christmas Trees, using the same family farmers who sold trees to their dad. They also followed the standards their father instilled in them, making customer satisfaction the priority.
When Lee died in 2016, Jimbo’s wife, Leigh Ann, came on board. They raised their children in the business, too, and Jimbo would take them on trips to North Carolina, the Pacific Northwest and Canada to visit farms and pick out the best trees to bring back to sell under the Big John’s Christmas Trees banner.
Like his father did with him.
“A pretty Christmas tree is what really excites me, especially when I go out with my sons or my daughter, and the growers let us go out there in the field and we tag the prettiest trees that we can find,” Jimbo said.
“I always say my two favorite trees are the ones that sell and the ones that make people happy,” he said.
Over the years, some of Big John’s trees have stood in the lobbies of local corporations and the homes of top athletes and celebrities such as Sir Elton John. The Livaditis group recently picked a special tree for the recent Dunwoody Village Holiday Celebration.
The third generation — John, 28, Lucas, 25, and Anastasia, 22 — are all grown and have full-time jobs, but every year they continue to work alongside their parents, greeting folks every Christmas season to sell a wide variety of trees, from Fraser firs to Scotch pines to Korean firs.
Jimbo said he wants Big John’s Christmas Trees to thrive for at least 25 more years.
Anastasia said she and her two brothers definitely see Christmas trees in their future.
“It’s all we’ve ever known and we all love it and spend as much time as we can being involved,” she said.
This time of year is intense for the Livaditis family, but one they enjoy because they believe they offer something Atlantans cannot get anywhere else.
“I just want people to appreciate that this might be a diminishing luxury opportunity, to have this nostalgic, fresh, real tree that’s come from a mountain, from maybe thousands of miles away,” said Leigh Ann Livaditis.
“To get a tree here is kind of a big deal and you’re buying a domestic product, you’re supporting an American farmer and a family-owned business.
Big John’s Christmas Trees can be found in Buckhead, at Ansley Mall in Midtown, in Dunwoody and other metro Atlanta locations.
