Lighting Industry News, Announcements, Products, Trends

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Ace is the Place For …

David Gordon Posted On April 13, 2016

You may remember the iconic jingle of “Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks” but did you know that Ace is the place for LED lighting? According to an article in the April issue of Hardware & Building Supply […]

Channel Strategies / Distributors / Lighting / Lighting2 / Manufacturers / More Insights

Differing Paths to Lighting Success

David Gordon Posted On April 11, 2016

Last week both Acuity and Cree shared calendar Q1 lighting success (defined as sales performance). So, let’s look at what they said and what it could mean. Acuity quarterly report (their Q2 fiscal year) Overall “outstanding results” Net sales increased […]

Distributors / Growth Strategies / Industry News / Lighting / Lighting2 / More Insights / Research Reports / Sales Channel / Supplier / Products

Is lighting a service, a product, a concept or illumination?

David Gordon Posted On March 23, 2016

Over the past couple of months we’ve touched on the changes that the lighting industry is undergoing. While much of it relates to LEDs, the “lamp” business, lighting controls and connectivity, we also mentioned how lighting can become a data […]

Channel Strategies / Lighting / Lighting2 / More Insights / Supplier / Products / Technology

The Coming LiFi Opportunity?

David Gordon Posted On March 13, 2016

As we’ve seen over the past couple of months with the entry of Cisco into the lighting space and emergence of PoE, the lighting space is changing. By virtue of the technology is there a significant risk that a percentage […]

Branding / Channel Strategies / Customer Segments / Growth Strategies / Industrial Market / Industry News / Lighting / Lighting2 / Manufacturers / Marketing / More Insights / Sales Channel / Technology

Lighting Opportunities, Round-Up and Relevancy

David Gordon Posted On March 6, 2016

The lighting market continues to represent some of the greatest opportunities for distributors. At the recent NAED South-Central, every lighting manufacturer reported minimum 2015 sales increases of 20%. Goals for 2016 are the same, if not higher. The market is […]

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2016 NAED South-Central Observations

David Gordon Posted On March 1, 2016

Stan and I attended the NAED South-Central, held in Las Vegas, last week. Reportedly 630 or so people were registered, albeit the “feel” of the meeting left one wondering “where are the people” as the general session seemed lightly attended […]

Channel Strategies / Distributors / Growth Strategies / Lighting / Lighting2 / More Insights / Profitability / Sales Channel / Supplier / Products / Technology

Selling Lighting or Selling Data?

David Gordon Posted On February 16, 2016

Recently we touched on how the emergence of connected lighting is opening new opportunities for manufacturers and could for distributors. The reason for “could” is that the opportunity potentially can be much more than selling fixtures. It could explode into […]

Branding / Customer Segments / Distributors / Growth Strategies / Lighting / Lighting2 / Marketing / More Insights / Renewables

Utilities Investing in LEDs

David Gordon Posted On February 11, 2016

The growth in the LED market has been remarkable, coming from zero to probably at least 50% of new construction in a short time period is phenomenal for a “new” product. And the retrofit market continues to move to LEDs. […]

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16 Distribution Industry Trends for 2016

David Gordon Posted On January 27, 2016

Over the past month, Allen and I have discussed our observations regarding the industry and shared trends we see that we think will impact business for distributors and manufacturers in 2016. We’ve agreed upon 16 sales, marketing, profitability and operations opportunities that we’d […]

Channel Strategies / Lighting / Lighting2 / Manufacturers / More Insights

Earnings Season … Acuity and Cree

David Gordon Posted On January 20, 2016

It’s the beginning of earnings season again and we’ve reviewed Acuity’s and Cree’s. It appears to be a tale of two companies. Both are having success in the LED space with Acuity’s net sales up 14% and Cree’s up 11%. The […]