New Lenox lighting company specializes in Christmas lights installation

Rob Arvetis of Frankfort loves the look of Christmas lights on his home but he’s not fond of installing them.

So when Arvetis met Gary Fouts, owner of New Lenox Christmas Décor through a business group, he hired Fouts’ company for the job.

“I’m able to go out of town for Thanksgiving and when I come home, the Christmas lights up are and I don’t even have to think about it,” Arvetis said. “And then they come and take it down. They do a really nice job with the rendering and everything that gives me an idea of how it may or may not look with different colors.”

Fouts said he began New Lenox Christmas Décor in the late 1990s when his lawn maintenance business stalled that year due to lack of substantial snowfall. Snow removal was “basically the only thing we can do around here in the winter,” Fouts said of his lawn maintenance business.

“So I knew I needed something for my full-time guys to do,” Fouts said. “Obviously, they have budgets to meet and families to feed.”

‘We usually run out of time, not work, now’

Fouts learned about Christmas Décor at a trade show at Navy Pier in Chicago in January of 1999 and decided to bring a franchise to New Lenox. He recalled telling his wife, “I’m not sure who really is going to pay us to put Christmas lights up. But we need to do something so we have year-round work.”

So Fouts visited the headquarters in Texas to learn more and “bought into it the end of October that year,” he said.

“And the rest is history,” Fouts said. “I’ve been doing lighting ever since.”

Fouts continued to run his lawn maintenance service while marketing and scheduling installations for New Lenox Christmas Décor

“Back then we only had two guys installing it. But wasn’t really hard to keep them busy. And we continued to grow,” Fouts said. “We usually run out of time, not work, now. We don’t market as much as we did.”

Fouts said his company mainly installs lights for residential customers but has branched out into some commercial buildings over the last five years.

New Lenox Christmas Decor customers run the gamut, including people who are too busy to decorate, seniors, homeowners with very large homes, people who are concerned they might fall off the roof and people who aren’t sure how to decorate.

“So they call us and the rest is done,” Fouts said.

I’m able to go out of town for Thanksgiving and when I come home, the Christmas lights up are and I don’t even have to think about it.”

—  Rob Arvetis of Frankfort, client of New Lenox Christmas Decor

‘The system hasn’t really changed in 25 years’

Fouts said his company provides the design, the décor and the installation. Staff follow homeowners’ preferences and work with each house’s unique elements, including windowsills, lines of the roof, trees and shrubs, Fouts said.

“We set up an appointment and go over everything we think that could be decorated and look good on your house,” Fouts said. “You pick and choose what fits into your budget and what you think is important…the system hasn’t really changed in 25 years.”

Despite its name, New Lenox Christmas Décor installs other types of outdoor lighting, too, such as landscape lighting, Fouts said.

“We have a permanent solution for your roof line if you want something up all year that can change colors. So we do install all of that,” Fouts said. “But the main part is the Christmas lighting.”

Why is that?

“Because Christmas is so emotionally driven,” Fouts said.

Arvetis was so pleased with New Lenox Christmas Decor, he also hired Fouts for lawn maintenance. Arvetis said Fouts’ lawn care company does it all, from mulching to bush trimming to handling the lawn sprinklers.

“I had a different mowing company at the time I met Gary,” Arvetis said. “But when I moved to my new home three years ago, it was time to make a change and I ended up going with Gary because I have quite a bit more landscaping now.”

For more information, call 815-462-4700 or visit christmasdecor.net.