Lightovation Report: Enough About Tariffs, Let’s Talk Interest Rates

The June edition of Lightovation, held at the Dallas Market Center, closed on Friday and no one walked away disappointed that they came. In short, it met expectations. No one was surprised by the attendance, and no one was left wanting for new products.

What everyone desired, however, was for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates in order to spur home sales, which have slowed over the past six months for much of the country. With decorative lighting sales closely aligned to homebuilding, having homes on the market for longer can significantly decrease foot traffic in retail showrooms.

The remodeling market – which includes updating lighting fixtures throughout the home – is holding its own. Consumers who aren’t motivated to sell and face a much higher interest rate than when they bought or refinanced are instead renovating popular rooms such as the kitchen, primary bedroom, and main bath because they realize they will be living in – and looking at – those rooms for longer than anticipated.

Tariffs – a predominant topic among manufacturers and showrooms for the past few months – were hardly mentioned at Lightovation since price increases have already been in place (or on hold) and hopes remain high across the board that the worst of the sudden price spikes are in the rearview mirror.

One day prior to Lightovation was the wrap-up of the annual Lighting One convention, which was upbeat in mood among retailers and manufacturers alike. That enthusiastic feeling was carried over into the halls of the Trade Mart with showroom buyers interested in seeing product they didn’t have time to see in January or sitting down with company principals to compromise on an assortment of issues.

Z-Lite, which unveiled a completely renovated showroom, took the bold approach of paring down its selection to showcase only its best-sellers from the previous market as well as new intros for June. According to Tim Stumm, design director, the goal was to make the buying process easier and more convenient. There is a comfort level in viewing recent best-sellers, he says. When budgets are tight, it is reassuring to know which styles are selling well for other showrooms nationwide. The streamlined presentation also allowed buyers to hone in on styles that they might have missed in January, which is exactly what many told Stumm.

More than a showroom renovation, AFX surprised a lot of customers by relocating from its long-time location to an expanded corner space on the fourth floor atrium previously occupied by Sonneman.  With a “deeper” format in the space – AFX’s previous showroom was smaller and more linear – there were now numerous partitions to navigate around, which gave the feeling of discovery.  The expanded space allowed AFX to display more decorative fixtures than ever before to the delight of buyers. Even if a product series wasn’t new to AFX, it appeared fresh to buyers who walked in.

Varaluz renovated its showroom to reflect the new ownership. Ciana Lighting – a high-end custom lighting manufacturer comfortable in the hospitality, commercial and religious lighting space – is the new parent company to Varaluz, which continues to be under the design direction of founder Ron Henderson.

Domestic lighting manufacturer Hammerton came out with a new brand called Viro that provides a more affordable assortment than Hammerton Studio, which was the more showroom-friendly version of the custom, high-end Hammerton Heritage and Hammerton Signature brands.  Unlike the premium Hammerton brands – which are manufactured at its Utah headquarters –  Viro’s components are imported and can be mix and matched for a more custom look. While Viro was located in a separate showroom across the hallway from Hammerton in June, all of the Hammerton brands will be in the same showroom together in January.

Fans of the high-end Eichholtz brand of lighting, furniture and accessories could only shop the line in person at its showrooms in Amsterdam or High Point — until now. The Netherlands-based company opened its first Lightovation showroom, located on the third floor of the Trade Mart.  A sampling of Eichholtz’s lighting designs attracted buyers to the new space.

Savoy House – known for  its lighting fixtures and ceiling fans – introduced a new category (portable lamps) with a familiar face (ARTS Award-winning Dallas retailer Coco & Dash, headed by the mother-daughter team of Teddie and Courtney Garrigan). The news comes on the heels of Coco & Dash opening a wholesale showroom to the trade in the Interior + Home Design Center wing at the Dallas Market Center. In addition to fun, punchy colors on full-size table lamps, The Lamp Shop by Coco & Dash includes a selection of rechargeable battery-powered accent lamps in a variety of styles and materials.

Retired Elk executive Lee Nemeth returned to the industry with a new lighting company called Arabela Lighting. Nemeth described the line as lighting “that feels both elevated and timeless.” Arabela offered a variety of elegant looks in a showroom on the fourth floor of the Trade Mart. 

Accord Lighting, which features lighting that is handcrafted in Brazil, had several new introductions that proved popular with buyers. Bruce Hathaway, director of sales-North America, said tariffs weren’t much of an issue for Brazil and the company has further reduced potential shipping costs by packaging its fixtures as compactly as possible — in some cases, in two separate pieces that have less bulk than if the wood shades were shipped fully assembled. Instead, the two pieces are easily fastened together when taken out of the box.

Matteo introduced a new Champagne Gold finish that cleverly complements both warm-toned brass or gold plumbing fittings or nickel tones. The finish comes close to Kohler’s popular French Gold and Delta’s Champagne Bronze finishes, making it ideal for master baths and powder rooms. Two new vanity fixtures this market were the Nola series with textured glass shades, and the Emerson series with adjustable shades.  

Avenue Lighting displayed its new, patent-pending Fremont Belt collection at its entrance. The versatile fixture consists of a fabric “belt” where fixtures can be fastened anywhere on the belt for a truly custom look. It is available in a choice of Black or Ivory belt fabric and with three, five, or seven-light options and five fixture components.

 Eglo unveiled its new Thesis brand — the name derived from the idea that a thesis is something that “needs to be proven” said Dave Pamer, president and CEO, who says he is up to the challenge. The brand features lighting that has a European influence, but is adapted in scale and aesthetics for the North American market. Only a small sampling of fixtures were on display at the Eglo showroom; the full collection will debut in the fall.

When it comes to what showroom buyers were looking for at Lightovation, the answer is a little bit of everything. Cindy Agers Strong of The Lighting Corner in Michigan recently completed some light commercial work that came about from a residential client. “I had done the lighting for his home a few times previously and he thought of me when he needed decorative statement and functional lighting for a business he owns,” she said. While Strong said she is not actively seeking more commercial work, she certainly is open to the opportunity. In fact, more and more showrooms are finding a cross-over in business from residential to hospitality projects as well as multi-family and office projects. 

Multi-family in particular is one category that has really been taking off in certain parts of the country, regardless of how the single-family home market is faring. Allan Margolin, president and owner of M&M Lighting in Houston, has done a booming business in the multi-family sector for decades — not only in Houston, but all over Texas and beyond. With Texas attracting the likes of Chevron and SpaceX, among 200 other corporations that recently relocated to the Lone Star state, the multi-family sector continues to be a steady source of reliable business for M&M.  

According to independent representative David May of DM Sales in Arizona, the Phoenix area has been especially growing with an influx of businesses. An article in the AZ Central (part of the USA Today network), recently reported that “Arizona has become one of the most important states in the country for deploying data centers, with projects from greater Phoenix to Tucson.” In addition, the state has attracted semiconductor manufacturers, medical research facilities, tech startups, fintech, and software developers. This mass business migration means one thing: multi-housing needs to accommodate the large influx of employees.

Unlike past years, showroom buyers are now attending Lightovation to look for product categories they might not have sought out before because of the changing customer landscape in their selling area. Fortunately, Lightovation presents a good cross-section of manufacturers that can meet showrooms’ needs.