Christmas Decor is a seasonal, project-based service business: the franchisee sells Holiday Lighting Services, designs and schedules each display, deploys trained crews to install and maintain it, removes and stores the décor after the season, then records every transaction and customer account in the required proprietary system.
What does a Christmas Decor franchise sell, and who buys it?
The CHRISTMAS DECOR Franchised Business is authorized to sell Holiday Lighting Services for Christmas, other holidays, special events and celebrations. The contractual offer is narrower than the combined THE DECOR GROUP Franchised Business, which may also sell Permanent Lighting Services and Landscape Lighting Services.
Residential Properties
Homeowners and other residential occupants buy a custom service package built around design consultation, installation, in-season maintenance, takedown and storage. The official residential service page describes trained crews, commercial-grade products and recurring seasonal service.
Commercial Properties
Businesses, hotels, restaurants and municipal accounts can buy the same sequence at a larger project scale. The official commercial service page confirms design, installation, maintenance and removal.
The customer-facing model is service-led rather than a retail sale of boxed lights. The official Christmas Decor FAQ states that décor is included in the all-inclusive package, refreshed or replaced as needed, and stored after takedown. The 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document does not set a customer price or require a minimum or maximum selling price.
How does work move through the unit?
The verified operating cycle combines local demand generation, property-specific design, approved-product ordering, crew scheduling, field installation, maintenance, removal, storage and electronic reporting. The Operations Manual separately covers residential sales, commercial sales, design and mapping, pricing and proposals, scheduling, installation, removal, storage, safety and LightRight tracking and invoicing.
Generate and receive demand
- Actor
- Franchisee sales staff; franchisor marketing programs.
- Action
- Run approved local marketing, receive website-locator inquiries and, when offered, accept national account referrals.
- Required system or asset
- Approved advertising, local webpage, phone and internet access.
- Output
- A residential or commercial inquiry assigned for consultation.
Consult, map and propose
- Actor
- Designer or salesperson employed by the franchisee.
- Action
- Inspect the property, discuss display goals, measure and map the site, select authorized décor and prepare a proposal.
- Required system or asset
- LightRight Cloud, design and mapping methods, approved product specifications.
- Output
- A customer-approved scope, price and service plan.
Order and schedule
- Actor
- Franchisee manager or office team.
- Action
- Order required lighting, garlands, clips, wire and accessories from Approved Suppliers; assign crews and dates.
- Required system or asset
- Approved-supplier list, online ordering, inventory controls and scheduling tools.
- Output
- Materials and labor are allocated to a confirmed installation.
Install the display
- Actor
- Franchisee-employed installation crew under local supervision.
- Action
- Prepare, transport and install the approved display using prescribed electrical, ladder, roof, fastening and property-protection methods.
- Required system or asset
- Vehicles, tools, safety equipment, uniforms, approved components and installation standards.
- Output
- A completed display ready for customer use and quality review.
Maintain during the season
- Actor
- Service or installation crew scheduled by the franchisee.
- Action
- Perform proactive maintenance and respond to outages, weather damage or component problems during the display period.
- Required system or asset
- Customer account history, replacement inventory, service schedule and field equipment.
- Output
- The display remains operational until the agreed removal date.
Remove and store
- Actor
- Franchisee crew and storage personnel.
- Action
- Take down the display, pack and identify components, preserve the design map and store décor for the next service cycle.
- Required system or asset
- Removal procedures, warehouse or storage capacity, containers and account records.
- Output
- A reusable customer package prepared for renewal or redesign.
Invoice, report and retain records
- Actor
- Franchisee administration; franchisor through electronic access.
- Action
- Process the transaction, invoice and track receivables, retain customer and sales records, submit required reports and reconcile system fees.
- Required system or asset
- LightRight Cloud, standard accounting records, high-speed internet and electronic reporting.
- Output
- A closed project record that supports collections, audits and next-season follow-up.
Evidence: 2026 FDD Items 1 and 11; Franchise Agreement Sections 12 and 13; Operations Manual table of contents; official How It Works page.
Can the unit be manager-run, and who performs each function?
A trained, franchisor-approved employee may provide full-time, on-premises seasonal management, but the contract does not support an absentee model. The franchisee remains responsible for supervision, compliance, staffing and customer delivery.
Item 15 says an approved employee manager may supervise on-site while the franchisee devotes sufficient time and best efforts. Franchise Agreement Section 13.H is more specific: the franchisee must devote a majority of time, energy and best efforts to management and operation. The agreement controls the relationship.
Hiring, firing, compensation, benefits, scheduling, discipline and other employment decisions remain solely with the franchisee. The franchisor can prescribe employee training, dress, appearance, conduct and service standards, but the Franchise Agreement states that Decor Group Franchising LLC is not the joint employer.
Which suppliers, assets and technology are mandatory?
The unit must use authorized products, approved sources and the franchisor’s proprietary operating software. The franchisee chooses purchasing volume and local capacity, but not the technical specifications, supplier status, required transaction platform or the franchisor’s access to operating data.
Approved Suppliers
All required lighting products, materials and operating inputs must come from approved manufacturers or distributors. An unapproved product or supplier requires prior review, possible testing and possible facility inspection.
LightRight Cloud
The proprietary system supports proposals, scheduling, invoicing, costing and receivables. Every transaction must be processed in the prescribed manner, and the annual license is required after the first year.
Field and storage assets
The franchisee supplies vehicles, tools, safety equipment, communications, approved inventory and adequate storage. The FDD does not prescribe a universal warehouse size, fleet count or crew count.
The franchisor may revise the Approved Suppliers list, designate itself, an affiliate or a third party as a sole approved source for an item, require software or hardware upgrades, and retrieve sales and other information daily. The current official Christmas Decor ordering portal shows the online product-ordering dependency, but the contract—not the public storefront—determines which sources are mandatory.
What does the franchisor control, and what remains with the franchisee?
Decor Group Franchising LLC controls the brand system, authorized offering, operating standards, product specifications, supplier approvals, software, advertising approvals, data access, inspections and national-account protocols. The franchisee controls local employment, customer pricing, daily scheduling and execution, subject to those system constraints.
Franchisee
- Selects a local site, subject to approval.
- Sets customer prices; no minimum or maximum is imposed.
- Hires, pays, schedules and supervises personnel.
- Chooses approved inventory volume and local capacity.
- Delivers, bills and follows up on customer work.
Decor Group Franchising LLC
- Maintains the CHRISTMAS DECOR System and Operations Manual.
- Approves suppliers, products, advertising and websites.
- Provides training, consultation, software and marketing administration.
- Accesses data, audits records and inspects operations.
- May route or reassign national accounts.
Third parties
- Approved Suppliers provide specified lighting, décor and materials.
- Internet and technology providers support required connectivity.
- Insurers provide required business, vehicle and workers’ compensation coverage.
- Customers approve project scope and service dates.
- Government authorities control licenses and safety compliance.
The official franchise page describes a franchise consultant, marketing, product, order, training and technology support. These resources do not replace the franchisee’s responsibility for labor, purchasing, scheduling, service quality or compliance. See the official franchise support description and the official training calendar.
How protected is the territory?
The territory is not exclusive in every sense. A compliant Christmas Decor franchisee receives exclusive rights to offer Holiday Lighting Services to Residential Properties inside the defined Service Territory; commercial accounts, alternative channels and certain national accounts remain open to competition.
Protection depends on meeting the Annual Performance Benchmarks in the territory exhibit. If the benchmark is missed, the franchisor may reduce the territory. Commercial Properties are nonexclusive, and THE DECOR GROUP franchisees may offer permanent and landscape lighting within a Christmas Decor territory.
The franchisee may serve commercial properties outside the territory. Residential work outside the territory is narrower: the area must be unassigned, the franchisor must approve the work, the account must arise through referral or incidental contact rather than active solicitation, and the account must be relinquished if the area is later awarded. Internet and other distribution channels do not expand residential exclusivity.
What does Item 20 show about the operating network?
Item 20 reports a fully franchised U.S. outlet base with modest net growth: end-of-period franchised outlets increased from 240 in 2023 to 244 in 2024 and 245 in 2025, while company-owned outlets remained at zero.
U.S. systemwide outlets at period end
Franchised outlets; company-owned outlets were 0 in every reported period.
The network added five net franchised outlets across the three end-of-period counts and did not operate a company-owned outlet during those periods.
Source: 2026 FDD, Item 20, Table 1. Periods are not equal: 2023 is the predecessor’s calendar year; 2024 covers January 1–October 31; 2025 covers November 1, 2024–October 31, 2025.
The system’s operating knowledge sits almost entirely in franchised units rather than company-owned test stores. Item 20 also reports 11 openings in 2025, but the net outlet increase was only one because openings were offset by terminations and non-renewals.
Which operating details should be verified before signing?
The FDD establishes the system architecture, but several unit-level inputs are determined in exhibits, current supplier lists, software selections and confidential manuals. These details materially affect seasonal capacity and should be resolved for the proposed market.
How should the model be understood overall?
The central mechanism is a recurring, full-service Holiday Lighting Services relationship with residential and commercial accounts: design, install, maintain, remove, store and renew. The franchisee’s most important responsibility is converting a compressed seasonal schedule into consistent field execution while supervising employees and retaining accurate customer records.
The strongest franchisor dependencies are the CHRISTMAS DECOR System, Approved Suppliers, LightRight Cloud, editable Operations Manual, advertising approvals and electronic data access. The most important distinction is that residential territory protection is conditional and narrow, while commercial work is nonexclusive. The largest undisclosed operating question is the exact Annual Performance Benchmark and current supplier-capacity requirement for the proposed territory.