Local entrepreneurs hope to light up Memphis

With the holiday season fast approaching, local companies like Christmas Decor are ramping up their operations to light up and decorate properties across the Mid-South. Entrepreneurs Fain and Sandra Dalton opened the new franchise with hopes that it would provide additional work opportunities for their employees of their other franchise, The Grounds Guys of Germantown landscaping business.
 
“One of the things with being in the landscaping business is that everything seems to start to slow down in November, December and January,” said Fain Dalton. “Rather than lay some of our employees off in the winter, we have something that will keep them working full-time so they can take care of their families.”
 
Since the Daltons were already doing landscaping lighting, The Decor Group approached them about purchasing one of its Christmas Decor franchises here in Memphis.
 
Now their staff installs holiday and Christmas lighting, as well as lighting for special events.
 
One of the company’s first big projects this season will be downtown at The Target House at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which it will decorate in conjunction with Southern Spray, a second Christmas Decor franchise operating within the Memphis area. Work will get underway in the next couple of weeks.
 
“We’ll be putting approximately 15,000 lights on that property, and we’ll be hanging 300 feet or more of 14-inch wide lighted garland for them,” said Dalton. “We will wrap all of the bushes with lights out front as well a small fountain area.”
 
Other available home decorations include centerpieces, decorative trees, holiday tableware, candles, tree toppers, nativity scenes and more.
 
Dalton hopes to receive some business from his landscaping business’ current established customers.
 
“It’s a strong possibility, and we offer an incentive price for our current Grounds Guys customers if they let us to put up lights for them,” said Dalton. “

The Texas-based Christmas Decor franchise was established in 1986 by Blake Smith as an off-season supplement to his landscape business and as a method to provide year-round work for employees. Today, roughly 125 franchisees operate in more than 350 markets in 48 states and Canada, and plans are underway to open locations in more than 100 new markets.