{"id":2670,"date":"2026-02-02T18:24:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670"},"modified":"2026-02-02T18:26:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:26:59","slug":"michael-estrin-joins-thea-enterprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670","title":{"rendered":"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

After 32 years at the helm of his own rep firm, Michael Estrin has joined THEA Enterprises as director of sales. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Years ago, when I first interviewed Michael Estrin, he was the principal of Estrin-Calabrese Sales (which later became Estrin-Zirkman Sales). While discussing a day in the life of a lighting rep, he mentioned that one of the aspects he enjoyed was that every day was different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some 30+ years later, Estrin\u2019s work life continues to have its assortment of shifting priorities, unexpected challenges, and satisfying solutions that he thrives on \u2014 but it\u2019s not with Estrin-Zirkman. Instead, several months ago he was approached by the formidable New York\/NJ agency THEA Enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1930 as Thea & Schoen in New York City, the company was one of the first electrical construction supply manufacturers\u2019 representatives in the New York metro area. In fact, the company still represents the factory it originally signed with 96 years ago \u2014 only now it includes many additional brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thea & Schoen later became THEA Enterprises<\/a> several years ago and transitioned to an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) structure. Today, the executive team includes brothers Mark and Doug Thea, who are the third generation of the Thea family and are actively involved in the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As director of sales, Estrin says his business life \u2013 and that of his eight Estrin-Zirkman employees, including Jim Zirkman \u2013 is almost nearly unchanged. \u201cWe\u2019re still here, all the same people are here,\u201d he said of his Estrin-Zirkman team. \u201cThey are basically doing what they have been doing, and we\u2019re integrating some new things where it makes sense. THEA has been most gracious to my staff.\u201d In his new role, Estrin reports to Pranav Chopra, executive vice president of lighting and controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THEA, which Estrin described as more of a \u201cstock and flow\u201d business for lighting designers, specifiers, showrooms, and commercial contractors wanted more of a presence in the lighting category and \u201cthat\u2019s all I do,\u201d he said in explaining why THEA reached out.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estrin\u2019s customers won\u2019t be noticing much of a change either. He is still handling all of the accounts he had with Estrin-Zirkman for New York and northern New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all good,\u201d he says of the business transition of integrating his agency into THEA\u2019s operations, noting that there haven\u2019t been any issues. \u201cI\u2019m just tickled  to be here with a 95-year-old company where the third generation [of family] is in charge. The [management team] plans and they execute,\u201d he says of THEA\u2019s well-organized business approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my everyday work, I have a lot to do \u2014 and I\u2019m happy about that. I work with some really neat people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THEA Enterprises announced the acquisition on its social media on January 13 with this statement: \u201cWe\u2019re proud to welcome Estrin Zirkman Sales to the THEA family. Together, we strengthen our shared commitment to delivering best-in-class service and tailored solutions. By combining decades of expertise with THEA\u2019s industry-leading resources, we look forward to better supporting designers, contractors, dealers, and manufacturers across the market. We\u2019re excited for what\u2019s ahead and proud to grow together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After 32 years at the helm of his own rep firm, Michael Estrin has joined THEA Enterprises as director of sales. Years ago, when I first interviewed Michael Estrin, he was the principal of Estrin-Calabrese Sales (which later became Estrin-Zirkman Sales). While discussing a day in the life of a lighting rep, he mentioned that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":253,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,391,10],"tags":[824,822,823],"class_list":["post-2670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-people","tag-estrin-zirkman-sales-2","tag-michael-estrin","tag-thea-enterprises"],"yoast_head":"\nMichael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises - Lighting News Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lighting veteran Michael Estrin of Estrin-Zirkman Sales has joined THEA Enterprises as their agencies merge.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises - Lighting News Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lighting veteran Michael Estrin of Estrin-Zirkman Sales has joined THEA Enterprises as their agencies merge.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lighting News Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T18:24:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T18:26:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Estrin_THEA_1580-1024x583.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"583\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Longo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Linda Longo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Linda Longo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b91a4fcdfd101c1a8cd62bed02204e5\"},\"headline\":\"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-02T18:24:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-02T18:26:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670\"},\"wordCount\":530,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Estrin_THEA_1580.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Estrin-Zirkman Sales\",\"Michael Estrin\",\"THEA Enterprises\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Featured\",\"People\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670\",\"name\":\"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises - Lighting News Now\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Estrin_THEA_1580.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-02T18:24:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-02T18:26:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b91a4fcdfd101c1a8cd62bed02204e5\"},\"description\":\"Lighting veteran Michael Estrin of Estrin-Zirkman Sales has joined THEA Enterprises as their agencies merge.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Estrin_THEA_1580.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Estrin_THEA_1580.png\",\"width\":1580,\"height\":900},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?p=2670#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lighting News Now\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b91a4fcdfd101c1a8cd62bed02204e5\",\"name\":\"Linda Longo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/91c8c2aeaa8bae6bb6148d8c20c5a0383f517cd96be31811a84562c9051282ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/91c8c2aeaa8bae6bb6148d8c20c5a0383f517cd96be31811a84562c9051282ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/91c8c2aeaa8bae6bb6148d8c20c5a0383f517cd96be31811a84562c9051282ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Linda Longo\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lightingnewsnow.com\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises - Lighting News Now","description":"Lighting veteran Michael Estrin of Estrin-Zirkman Sales has joined THEA Enterprises as their agencies merge.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises - Lighting News Now","og_description":"Lighting veteran Michael Estrin of Estrin-Zirkman Sales has joined THEA Enterprises as their agencies merge.","og_url":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670","og_site_name":"Lighting News Now","article_published_time":"2026-02-02T18:24:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-02T18:26:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":583,"url":"http:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Estrin_THEA_1580-1024x583.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Linda Longo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Linda Longo","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670"},"author":{"name":"Linda Longo","@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b91a4fcdfd101c1a8cd62bed02204e5"},"headline":"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises","datePublished":"2026-02-02T18:24:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-02T18:26:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670"},"wordCount":530,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Estrin_THEA_1580.png","keywords":["Estrin-Zirkman Sales","Michael Estrin","THEA Enterprises"],"articleSection":["Business","Featured","People"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670","url":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670","name":"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises - Lighting News Now","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Estrin_THEA_1580.png","datePublished":"2026-02-02T18:24:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-02T18:26:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b91a4fcdfd101c1a8cd62bed02204e5"},"description":"Lighting veteran Michael Estrin of Estrin-Zirkman Sales has joined THEA Enterprises as their agencies merge.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Estrin_THEA_1580.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Estrin_THEA_1580.png","width":1580,"height":900},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=2670#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Michael Estrin Joins THEA Enterprises"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/","name":"Lighting News Now","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b91a4fcdfd101c1a8cd62bed02204e5","name":"Linda Longo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/91c8c2aeaa8bae6bb6148d8c20c5a0383f517cd96be31811a84562c9051282ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/91c8c2aeaa8bae6bb6148d8c20c5a0383f517cd96be31811a84562c9051282ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/91c8c2aeaa8bae6bb6148d8c20c5a0383f517cd96be31811a84562c9051282ed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Linda Longo"},"url":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2670"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2673,"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2670\/revisions\/2673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}