Distributor News: 8.31.2010

Manufacturers Tell Retailers of Objections to Imported Product Safety Standard

A letter (dated Aug. 2) was sent by NEMA to NAED on Aug. 26. It is addressed to the top executives at Best Buy, KMART, Lowe’s, Target, The Home Depot, and Walmart, and signed by NEMA’s top elected official, top staffer, and 24 top executives at NEMA-member electrical manufacturers.

What’s the beef? A consumer product factory audit program from the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), apparently based on action by the British Retail Consortium.

“We believe the RILA program, based on a British consumer product safety and food standard, is misguided in its present form,” the letter says. “This duplicative audit program is too broad, too prescriptive, too expensive, and so vague in its requirement as to be a threat to the existing U.S. third-party certification process that has ensured safe and effective electrical products for the domestic marketplace for over 100 years.”

Call to action: “We call on you to join with NEMA and to encourage RILA to create an efficient and cost-effective factory-audit program,” said the letter, signed by Charlie Jerabek (NEMA’s board chair and vice chairman of OSRAM Sylvania) and Evan Gaddis (NEMA’s president and CEO).

Among others signing on to the letter were executives at ABB, Eaton, Emerson, General Cable, GE, Hubbell Leviton, Lutron, Phillips Lighting, Rockwell, Siemens, Schneider Electric, and Thomas & Betts.

Federal Deals

Anixter (Richmond, Va.)—$128,400 contract for “special purpose cable” from Defense Logistics Agency (announced Aug. 18).

            Also: $30,115 contract for “Berk-Tek and Ortronics cables and jacks” from the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (Aug. 25).

Allied Wire & Cable (Collegeville, Pa.)—will supply “electrical wires” under a $56,263 contract with the DSC (Aug. 11).

            Also: A $36,100 DSC contract will see Allied supply “special purpose cables” (Aug. 11) and a $32,798 contract for “electric wire, power and distribution equipment” was signed (Aug. 15) with Federal Prison Industries (U.S. Dept. of Justice).

Brothers Electronics (East Brunswick, N.J.)—will supply “fluorescent lamp starters” to the Defense Supply Center. $36,351.72 (Aug. 4).

Crum Electric Supply (Casper, Wyo.)—will provide “an accusonic meter” to the Bureau of Reclamation (Dept. of Interior) under a $42,381 contract (Aug. 23).

Dykman Electrical (Boise, Idaho)—won a $486,500 contract for “electric wire and power and distribution equipment” under the stimulus from the Bureau of Reclamation (Dept. of Interior) (Aug. 22).

Electrical Products Sales (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)—will supply “terminal lugs” under a $42,720 deal from the Defense Supply Center (Aug. 12).

            Also: $33,990 DSC contract for “terminal lugs” (Aug. 12) and another $44,250 DSC pact for “lug terminals” (Aug. 9).

F&R Sales (Burlington, N.J.)—$99,360 contract for “electrical power cable” from the DSC (Aug. 6).

Frost Electric Supply (Maryland Heights, Mo.)—the U.S. Army Contracting Command will obtain “variable driver frequencies” from Frost for $4,653.54.

Golden Isles Supply (Baxley, Ga.)—won a $55,460 contract for supply of “electrical and electronic equipment components” from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Aug. 5).

Granite City Electric Supply (Quincy, Mass.)—$47,967.40 DSC contract for “lighting fixtures” (Aug. 12).

Graybar Electric (Columbus, Ohio)—$27,954 contract (Aug. 4) from the DSC for “box switches.”

Imperial Wire & Cable (Ivyland, Pa.)—a $168,379.20 contract from the DSC for “electrical wires” (Aug. 24).

            Also: A $144,844.50 contract for “electrical power cables” from DSC.

Revere Electric Supply (Chicago)—will supply “electrical plug connectors” under a $26,041.68 DSC contract.

Rumsey Electric (Conshohocken, Pa.)—will supply “windcone assemblies” to the DSC under a $55,256.76 deal (Aug. 10).

Trillium Wire & Cable (Scottsdale, Ariz.)—$13,720 contract for “supply and delivery of copper wire” from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Wesco Distribution (Dayton, Ohio)—$193,684.26 contract for “magnetic contactors” from the DSC (Aug. 21).

Lighting Stores

Aamsco, Summerville, S.C.—the use of original carbon filament bulbs for restaurant lighting has “Ignite(d) A Furor,” to paraphrase the headline on a long June 8 New York Times article. They are supplied by Aamsco, which makes some bulbs and distributes those and lighting products from other suppliers. One of the products carried by owner Bob Rosenzweig, the article said, was from Kyp-Go, “which has been replicating Edison’s original carbon filament bulb for nearly 50 years.”

            What’s the problem? According to the newspaper: “It remains to be seen how all this will play out in a city where Mayor Michael Bloomberg has championed the compact fluorescent and restaurants crow about their connections to the earth.”

            How’s that again? The article noted that the filament bulbs “do not produce enough light to be included in the higher federal efficiency standards taking effect in 2012, but can use roughly three times the energy of a standard incandescent.”

Capitol Lighting, Boca Raton, Fla.—founded in 1924 in Newark, N.J., this company (according to the Aug. 9 Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale) has four stores in New Jersey, four in south Florida, and 160 employees. What’s new, according to Eric and Ken Lebersfeld (brothers): The company has opened a 3,400-square-foot concept store (backed by 1,000 square feet of warehouse), smaller than the typical 12,000-square-foot location previously used (two-thirds of that is retail space).

            What’s the idea? Accommodating customers who browse via the web, but still want to touch a lighting product before they buy. From Ken Lebersfeld: “There are more avenues for shoppers. Customers are a moving target, but their needs are the same. If they aren’t in your store, then where are they? Don’t lose the handshake.”

House of Lights, Cary, N.C.—a 21-year-old driver lost control of his car (due to a seizure, according to media reports) and sent it crashing through House of Lights on July 13. But the retailer (which has one 7,500-square-foot showroom/store) re-opened “in a matter of days,” according to a report—back in business on July 16. The big deal, according to the store owner and employees: No one was hurt. “Everything can be fixed,” said owner Janet Myers.

Retailer Watch

Green Depot—that’s the name of a retailer (founded in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 2005) with stores in Albany and Manhattan, N.Y., Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, according to The Business Review of Albany (July 30). The company is said to have “its own test to identify products that are better for the environment.”

Home center sales—researchers at NPD Group said “warehouse home center sales were up 2%” in the 12 months ended June 2010, vs. the year-earlier period, according to Home Channel News.

LED bulbs at $19.97—an Aug. 23 release from The Home Depot noted that the company’s website began offering LED bulbs for $19.97. From Craig Menear, executive vice president, merchandising: "Our partnerships with leading LED manufacturers including Philips, Lighting Science Group, and Cree have enabled us to be the first in the market to offer affordable options for a wide array of fixture types for a consumer's home."

What about lower-priced LED bulbs in THD stores? Look for them by the end of September.

ALSO: Separately, an Aug. 12 article in The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) noted that the LED ceiling light that THD is selling for $49.95 on its website (in stores by fall) with the EcoSmart brand name “is made for the retailer by Cree.”

Lowe’s turned down—Chain Store Age reported that the Boston Redevelopment Authority turned down the company’s request to build a 145,000-square-foot store in Brighton, Mass.

Walmart + fuel cells—Plug Power is to supply as many as 75 hydrogen fuel cells to power forklifts for Walmart Canada.

Walmart + lighting—Walmart Canada in July began its sixth annual “reduced summer lighting program” in nearly all of its stores. “By reducing its sales floor lighting by one-third, summer-long, the company expects to help ease strain on provincial power grids and reduce summer smog conditions,” a release announced.