This story was updated on April 8 to clarify the number of property tours conducted at Jasper Highlands.
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Sales at Big Daddy's Fireworks, an iconic stop on the Haletown exit of Interstate 24 in Marion County since the early 1990s, had been slowly fizzling for nearly a decade. So when the option to lease the space to Thunder Enterprises came about, the Loyd family welcomed the change.
"If you've seen their sales office in Kimball -- from what it was before to what it is now -- we're looking forward to seeing the change in our building," said Rob Barnett, Big Daddy's spokesperson and son-in-law to owners Lew and Jody Loyd. "It's going to look amazing. John does nothing halfway."
Thunder Enterprises CEO John "Thunder" Thornton and President Dane Bradshaw began a long-term lease on the Big Daddy's building early this year. They plan to use the space as sales headquarters for River Gorge Ranch, a new multimillion-dollar residential community with expansive ridgeside views of Nickajack Lake.
River Gorge Ranch will be Thunder Enterprises' second high-end residential community in Marion County. The company began Jasper Highlands, an 8,893-acre mountain development in Kimball, more than a decade ago.
Barnett said the Big Daddy retail locations make up only a portion of the family's business, which still has many storefronts throughout the Southeast and Midwest that continue to do well. They are also in their 93rd year as proprietors of Atomic Fireworks, an import wholesale business known for owning and patenting two of the top brands of fireworks nationwide -- the M-80 and the Cherry Bomb.
The decline in business began about eight years ago, Barnett said, when the state of Georgia and East Ridge in Hamilton County began selling fireworks. Sales at the Haletown location have gone steadily downhill each year since.
"Ultimately, that gave us our decision to offer it to John for his sales office. That -- and, really, our labor force has declined. There were a few extenuating circumstances," Barnett said. "The industry is kind of slowing down, and we've been cutting some stores. The ones we have left are doing well. It was a good move for the company and for John's company as well."
Bradshaw said renovations are underway, and the company is eager to move Thunder Enterprises headquarters to the base of the mountain at River Gorge Ranch. Once that happens, the company will either sell or lease their offices at the base of Jasper Highlands.
Over the past two years, Thunder Enterprises has conducted more than 1,700 property tours per year, Bradshaw said. And he expects for that trend to continue upward.
"Most of those are from out of state," he said. "The typical tour is a couple, so that's roughly 3,400 people coming to this area every year as a result of our project, who will spend money during their trip, staying in hotels and everything else.
"As we welcome thousands of out-of-state visitors each year, the front porch and first impression of our community is really our sales office. So it's important that we make it as first-class as possible, with a welcoming feel and lobby and plenty of space for our growing team."
Thunder Enterprises acquired nearly 7,400 acres of Aetna Mountain last year. Crews are building out what is expected to be more than 40 miles of roads to the ridgetop property. The developers say the project could bring more than $1.5 billion in homes and mountaintop amenities to eastern Marion County.
Bradshaw and Thornton said that, to date, 1,250 lots have been sold in their first development, with about 50 lots remaining. Sales for River Gorge Ranch began in May of 2022. Since that time, more than 250 lots have been sold. The company expects River Gorge Ranch will grow to include 2,500 lots, or nearly double the 1,300 lots at Jasper Highlands.
Since January of 2023, construction crews have built office spaces at the new development, a vehicle and machinery maintenance area and a woodmill and large gravel pile used to repurpose excavated rock and timber. They have also poured a concrete foundation for what will be a model home.
Thornton and Bradshaw estimate they will spend about three times as much money on amenities at River Gorge Ranch as they did at Jasper Highlands. Plans for the new community include pools, fitness centers, pickleball courts, tree houses, a restaurant and a 6-acre lake, coming to over $20 million.
Over the next decade, the developers expect River Gorge Ranch will grow the population of Aetna Mountain from 10 people to an estimated 5,000 or more once the community is complete. Similar to Jasper Highlands, most of the homebuyers are expected to be retirees or near-retirees, although the development is not age restricted. Because of its proximity to Chattanooga, River Gorge Ranch may also attract a bigger share of working-age residents, Thornton said.
Thornton and Bradshaw said the pandemic created a great deal of pent-up market demand for retirement housing. And when the market "broke loose" in May of 2020, they were ready.
"During the pandemic, we tripled down on advertising," Bradshaw said. "With the COVID lockdown, there was already an appreciation for rural, spacious living -- but that appreciation went through the roof. People just wanted to have their own space and start planning retirement and get out of big cities."
Marion County Mayor David Jackson said the developments atop Jasper and Aetna mountains have boosted Marion County tax collections and infused new people and money into the local economy.
"We hated to lose Big Daddy's, it had been in business there for several years," Jackson said in an emailed statement. "But with the development of River Gorge Ranch the increase in the collection of property taxes will more than cover the taxes that we will lose by Big Daddy's closing."
Jackson said part of the River Gorge Ranch property at one time belonged to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and wasn't even taxed.
"The Jasper Highlands Development has brought a lot of new citizens to our county from all over the country," he said. "Many of those citizens are volunteering to help with different programs and projects throughout the county. Of course it has helped our tax base with 400-plus homes that are either completed or being built. Also with the Top of The Rock Restaurant being on the Highlands it brings a lot of visitors to the county that not only visits the restaurant but shops with other businesses in the county."
Contact Jennifer McNally at jmcnally@timesfreepress.com.
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