Every year, Nooga Lights hosts their annual light show, drawing in thousands of people to visit a beautiful display of more than 350,000 bulbs, but tariffs have put a costly price tag on them, forcing local companies to rethink–and even cancel–holiday plans.
“It hurts,” John Haustein, Founder of Nooga Lights, says. “It hit at the worst time. We had already come under contract with a few municipalities to do shows at their locations, and then the tariffs hit.”
This year, Haustein says they’d hoped to expand by bringing the first light show of its kind to Fort Oglethorpe, but plans fell through after Haustein says tariffs made the cost unreasonable and dreams impossible.
“The pricing did not change on our end. They were doing everything they could to keep that light bulb at the same price for us,” Haustein says. “It was when it hit the U.S. shore, the price doubled.”
He says a $300,000 light bulb order would’ve cost $600,000 “just to get them off the boat.”
Haustein tells me they would have had to make accommodations–hiking prices for the public–but that didn’t sit right with him.
“You don’t want to make a $20 ticket and make it $40. It’s not fair to the customers,” Haustein says.
Haustein says as a family-oriented business and father of five, he wants to make sure families are able to enjoy doing festive and fun activities at a reasonable price.
“A lot of people look at these lines of cars, and they think there’s a lot of income being produced, and it is really not that case. The expenses that we go through to put this up, the expenses to store this stuff, the insurance overhead and the nightly labor,” he says. “It’s astounding when you look at it.”
It’s not only the price he considers, either: it’s the experience. Haustein tells me what makes his drive-thru light show different from any other is that time isn’t a restraint.
“Once you’re in, you can stay. You just keep making loops. It’s not a once and done venue,” he says.
All Haustein is asking for this Christmas is patience. Next year, we can expect to see more bright lights and vibrant displays.
The last day to visit their light show in Soddy Daisy is December 31.