Practical advice on commercial lighting from LED retrofits to lighting design.

Last year, we published our first-ever LED Buying Guide. We say over and over again around here that our goal is to make lighting easier for our customers, and the LED Buying Guide was published with that objective in mind. 

The lighting world has undergone rapid changes over the last decade with the emergence and proliferation of light emitting diode (LED) lighting technology. Just seven years ago, in 2010, less than 10 manufacturers made up 90 percent of the lighting market. Last year, that market share was spread between more than 400 manufacturers, each with its own fluid, iterative product line.

That's a lot to keep up with.

So, how do we make things easier for you?

About a year ago, I was on a Costco run, but was turned away when I arrived. It was the middle of the day and the whole store was shut down. 

Care to guess why?

In the retail industry, high quality lighting is one area that can go overlooked or deemed superfluous. Glenn Trunley of TUMI knows the importance of high quality lighting and the benefit that it can bring to accomplishing store design goals. 

Regency recently partnered with TUMI to bring specification consistency, standout design, and tailored budgetary solutions for an international rollout. 

Our lighting designers are frequently asked about color temperature and CRI. How important are these measurements to your lighting product decisions? 

With the emergence of LED lighting, the options have become almost limitless, so selecting the perfect color for your application can turn into an overwhelming endeavor.

Exciting and dynamic lighting in your retail store is a critical ingredient to creating an appealing store environment. Lighting affects your customers more than you may realize.

But let's say you have "decent" lighting right now, how do you take it to the next level? 

It can be difficult and cumbersome to weed your way through thorny, tangly lighting jargon. (It can get be overwhelmingly complex.) No matter your budget or experience with lighting, here are some straightforward retail lighting design strategies you can adapt right now. 

Overall, there are two main concerns that our clients tend to bring when interest in an LED project begins to form: 1) “Most LEDs look like they belong on an X-Files episode” (or something to that effect) and 2) It’s hard to get the same look of light that I currently have.

Whether you manage a fast food restaurant or a high-end steakhouse, it’s imperative to have the right lighting. You want your customers to feel comfortable in your space and you want the food they order to look attractive when it makes it to the table.  

LEDs are shaking up the way we think about lighting design. The small size, optical engineering, efficiency, and flexibility of LED lighting is enabling the design community to be more precise, creative, and sustainable than ever. Here is a handful of ways that LED lighting is affecting retail lighting design: 

What do you think of when you hear the phrase "lighting design?" Our lighting design team has prepared a few simple retail lighting design tips to help make your retail store look better. In fact, dialing-in your lighting may help make your store more attractive to your customers.