Features

LOS ANGELES — People pay to get their pools cleaned, their lawns raked and their trees trimmed. So should it come as any surprise that more and more of them are paying to get their holiday lights put up? 

Professionals in the holiday-light-stringing business in Southern California report record numbers of requests this year – electricity shortage or no. 

“When I first started, I was doing two or three homes,” said Jeff Clericuzio, who operates ’Tis the Season Holiday Lighting in Canyon Country in northern Los Angeles County. “Then it jumped to 60. Now I’m up to 300 ... I have too much to handle just by word of mouth.” 

Elwood and Linda Johnson are among those who want their home to twinkle and glow for Christmas – but would rather have someone else do the hard part. 

Elwood Johnson, 63, said he put up his own lights for decades. But when he moved from Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area to Stevenson Ranch in the Santa Clarita Valley last year, he noticed that the majority of his neighbors were paying more in dollars than in effort for their light displays. 

Last year, he persuaded the folks with the cherry pickers to squeeze him into their schedule, paying about $125 in his initial outlay. This year, he doubled the number of lights, as well as the cost, to about $250. 

The cost of professional holiday installations depends on the elaborateness of the display and varies with services provided, such as taking down the lights and storing them.  

Companies can generally provide a range of lights, while some permit owners to use their own, provided they meet electrical safety codes. 

Ric Robertson of RMR Holiday Lighting in Beverly Hills said clients spend an average of $800 to $2,000. Some, including a few celebrities, pay as much as $20,000, he said. 

Wayne Walker of Trius Construction of Northridge and Palmdale said displays average about $1,500 per home. Costs range from $75 to $3,000 per tree, “depending on whether the client wants it lit up like the burning bush of Moses.” 

Nationwide, the market for home holiday decorating is leaping by 30 percent to 35 percent per year, said Jim Ketchup, who converted Christmas Decor – his home holiday lighting business in Lubbock, Texas – into a national franchiser five years ago. He estimates 300 franchisees will decorate more than 35,000 homes this year, up from about 27,000 last year.