Business

Where did Harris Teeter get that searchlight?

By Bill Moss, Published: June 12, 2025

You don’t see a World War II vintage searchlight much these days but the rare sight was on display in Hendersonville this week, shining its powerful beam miles into the heavens.

The revolving light was set up in the parking lot of Southside Square Plaza starting to draw attention to the grand reopening of the Harris Teeter after nine months of repairs from Hurricane Helene flooding. A searchlight is not the kind of thing you could find on Amazon, like a bounce house or streamers. Harris Teeter knew where to go. It found Searchlights of Dallas.

Andrew Griffin and two of his sons arrived in Hendersonville in time for the grand opening after towing the 6,000-pound machine from Dallas Texas. The searchlight beam shines 29 miles into the darkness; its revolving beam can be seen on the ground for miles in either direction.

“Light the way and pinpoint your business within a 40-mile diameter,” Andrew's business card says. “Quiet, clean, highly maintained searchlights are delivered complete with on-board generators and operated by qualified technicians.”

John and Andrew GriffinAndrew is the chief technician, of course, but he has four sons who most likely will inherit the business. On this trip he brought, John, 12, and Jake, 15. He has two more boys, ages 17 and 9.

“They're my mechanics,” he says. “They watch me do machining. We machine our own parts for ’em. We have to do everything. Nobody makes ’em.”

The searchlights, used widely for anti-aircraft purposes in combat zones in WWII, were made by G.E. and Sperry. They weigh around 6,000 pounds.

“My father started the company,” Griffin says. “I fell in love with them because of him.”

There are not many searchlight providers out there, and Griffin may be the biggest. Back home in Texas he's got 200 of them that he tows all over. “I’ve been buying them all over the country,” he says.