From Farmer’s Drive-in Market to Cirian’s Christmas Tree Company

May 16, 2024

Giuseppe “Joseph” Troia came to Omaha after a hard freeze destroyed his orange orchard. Once here, he opened one of the city’s longest-standing farmers markets.

Joe returned home to Carlentini, Italy after serving in the Italian Army during World War II. Like many of his countrymen, he fell on hard times as a result of both the damage inflicted by the war and the freeze on his crop. Joe and his wife Maria arrived in the States in 1954 and opened a fruit market north of downtown at 11th and Locust.

Joseph Troia’s Farmers Drive-in Market located at 41st and Leavenworth.

In 1959 he moved west as much of the city headed in the same direction. He proceeded to open the 24-hour Farmers Drive-in Market at 4103 Leavenworth Street. Each fall, the self-proclaimed vegetable designer fashioned an old birch tree into a pumpkin tree. This was a passion of Joe’s as he would spend hours designing it while using peppers, corn, leaves, squash, and sweet potatoes to make faces and attaching pumpkins to its branches. His goal was simple: to make people smile as they drove past it. He once recalled being offered what he said was a ridiculous sum of money for a tree that he made for the Children’s Hospital. He declined, preferring to see the smiles on children’s faces. Joe earned his retirement in 1979 and passed away in 2003. There’s no doubt he put lots of smiles on faces during that time.

The small store located on Cirian’s lot which used to be the home of a service station.

At the time, his was one of the big four Christmas tree markets in town, a tradition that while scaled down continues to live on after the Cirian family bought it. Phil Cirian moved the market to its current location at 4911 Leavenworth Street across from Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in 1982. Cirian’s operates nine months out of the year where it sells a variety of plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables starting in the spring. As winter approaches, they receive a fresh crop of Christmas trees from Michigan where they sell around 1,500 each year. This is when the somewhat misleading sign out front that reads “Christmas Tree Company” comes alive. Cirian’s even flock the trees, with white being the most popular color, so it appears as though they have snow on them. After selling its last tree, they start all over again preparing for the spring planting season.

Looking a the plants and flowers available at Cirian’s Farmers Market on Leavenworth.

While Phil Cirian semi-retired in 2019, the business is now operated by his son Tony and grandson Austin. In fact, the family-owned business that has served generations of planters has developed a reputation for being one of the best garden centers not only in midtown but all of Omaha. The market that Joe started more than 70 years ago continues to put a smile on faces, whether they be excited children picking up a pumpkin for Halloween, a Christmas tree for the holidays or adults looking forward to ripe tomatoes and bright flowers.

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Until next time, keep exploring!