My husband and I are ecstatic that the George Kovacs Company is going to replace our lighting fixture. It just doesn’t happen often enough anymore that manufacturers stand behind their products. Thank you so much for your assistance with this issue. Going forward we will definitely be ordering our lighting from your website as we have gotten more assistance from you than we have from our local lighting store. We just loved this fixture it looked so nice in our newly remodeled dining room and can’t wait to put it back up. The store where we made the initial purchase is Visions LIghting and Accessories in Loves Park IL, 61111.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Light Styles and Light Styles Internet of Boise, Idaho have expanded the existing Boise lighting showroom into a full service home design center called the Belcaro Design Center. Despite the economic downturn Light Styles sees this as an opportunity to capture market share and is optimistic about the future.

Boise, Idaho (PRWEB) 10, July, 2009 – The Light Styles of Boise showroom has long been the leading supplier of lighting products to the Boise market. It has been impacted like everyone by the economic downturn.  However, Jessyca Holbrook , the president of Light Styles, and Rosemary Wickowski, the CEO of Light Styles Internet, see this crisis as an opportunity.  The showroom and the company internet site, www.lightingshowroom.com, are both leaders in their markets and are confident of weathering the market crisis. 

By tripling the showroom space and expanding the range of products offered Holbrook anticipates that the Belcaro Design Center will become the dominant home design product supplier in the region.  This presence, coupled with the lighting e-commerce site, which Wickowski says is one of the top five lighting destinations on the web, makes Light Styles a premier distributor for home lighting products.

Holbrook accomplished the expansion by joining forces with suppliers of a wide variety of other home design products.  She organized Steve Williams, owner of Advanced Marble and Granite, and Trevor Brown, co-owner with his brother Ian of Lochsa Finish Hardware, to join forces as key tenants in her expanded showroom.  By offering a full service destination to designers, builders, and home owners for all of their design needs the center will be a destination for all the design needs as the housing market gradually recovers.

For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release, contact Wayne Eskridge or visit www.lightingshowroom.com.

About Light Styles:

The showroom, www.lightstylesofboise.com , was founded in 1999 and the e-commerce site, www.lightingshowroom.com , was begun in 2005.  They sell residential indoor and outdoor lighting products from major manufacturers.

Contact:

Wayne Eskridge

Light Styles Internet, LLC

208-433-3900

http://www.lightingshowroom.com

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Popularity: 23% [?]

While not widely publicized, many lighting manufacturers are struggling with dramatic changes in China’s approach to their manufacturing sector.  Some horror stories might illustrate the issues.

One large lighting factory was simply closed without notice.  When their customers realized there were problems and went to China to see what was happening they found the place locked and vacant.  Unfortunately all of their molds, dies, drawing, etc were locked inside and they were unable to get anyone in China to allow them to retrieve their property.  In order to supply their customers that firm has moved to Vietnam and is working to get a new manufacturing plant up to speed on their products. US buyers trying to order those products are seeing backorder dates of up to 6 months.

As a decree driven economy, wage pressure has suddenly bloomed in China.  Reports of overnight increases in wages to be paid to workers in the lighting factories range from 3 to 5 times.  No warnings, no negotiation, pay or leave.  Products in the pipeline and pending orders are instantly marginalized as they are feeding a supply chain in this country with published prices in effect.  Until alternatives are found those products are unprofitable for the importers.

Raw materials present another interesting problem.  Contracts and pricing agreed to for production runs have little meaning.  When a shipment is ready it likely won’t be delivered for the agreed upon price.  The explanation, costs for fuel, materials, labor, etc have changed and there is no one to appeal to in their system as agreements are only enforced if to the benefit of the local party.

These rapid changes have lead to dramatic price escalation for all types of lighting products.  This is particularly difficult for the industry in the face of the current housing and construction crisis in the states.  We are going to see the failure of many local lighting retailers as well as a shakeout in the importers and manufacturers with Chinese factories.

While difficult for this particular industry it may lead to more domestic production which would be a good thing.

Popularity: 32% [?]

So you’ve decided to start making changes around the house to save on electricity. Lighting is a great way to do this. Part 1 discussed a few habits that can help to reduce the amount of light wasted around the house. It also discussed utilizing CFLs and dimmer switches for ceiling lights and other lighting to save on energy. It doesn’t have to stop there though; there are other savings to be had with a few more energy saving tips.

Put your lights on timers. Oftentimes, outdoor light fixtures can be easy to forget to shut off. At the same time, these lights are good to keep on when kids are playing in the yard late into the evening. If you have the problem of forgetting to turn them off on a regular basis, setting the lights on timers can be an effective way to solve the problem and save on energy. Simply adjust the timers to come on when the evening sunset arrives and turn them off after you usually close up the house for the night.

Outdoor light fixtures can also benefit from the installation of motion detectors. This technology provides for the safety of the household while saving on electricity overall. Motion detection can be utilized in a number of different outdoor lighting applications. For example, they can be used to control spotlights and post lighting in the yard.

Occupancy motion sensors for interior application are now becoming more common. They commonly replace wall mounted light switches and can turn the ceiling lights and wall lights on when you enter a room and turn them off again when you leave. This can be good for children’s rooms as kids often forget to turn off lights behind them.

Finally, with all of these tips being thrown around, remember that the cheapest lighting is natural lighting. Sometimes all you need to do is open the blinds and save on electricity the old fashioned way.

Popularity: 45% [?]