|
As the outside of a home is becoming more of
an extension of the inside, home buyers are paying
closer attention to details like outdoor patio
lighting. In response to this trend, manufacturers
and retailers are offering customers new shapes
and designs in accent and outdoor patio lighting.
"We decided we wanted to do something new
and different ... something not found in home
centers or hardware stores," said Jennifer
Angelo, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia-based
Angelo Brothers, whose 16-sku Artworks Collection
includes outdoor patio lighting fixtures in finishes
like burnished cobalt and mineral frost, in addition
to moss verde and copper patinas. The collection
includes a solid brass lantern accented by seeded
glass, a wire-bottom lantern finished with patina
pewter and a bronze patina lantern adorned with
sand-blasted glass.
"There's that whole curb appeal," said
Angelo. "You want people to drive up and
like what they see. People want to display their
personality outside."
With margins of 25 percent to 50 percent, many
hardware stores and home centers are dedicating
more space to exterior outdoor patio lighting
category, stocking a wider range of products and
cross-merchandising them in different areas of
the store.
At Do it Best Corp., exterior outdoor patio lighting
is experiencing above-average growth compared
to other types of home lighting, said Dave Watts,
retail product manager for the dealer-owned buying
group. The largest increases have been seen in
the low-voltage lighting category.
"We anticipate continued strong growth in
these outdoor exterior lighting categories as
we continue to introduce [dealer-] members to
our exterior lighting programs," Watts said.
"People are spending time and money around
their homes," said Phil Kinzer, marketing
manager for Intermatic, which manufactures the
Malibu line of outdoor patio lighting. "They
may not want to spend money on landscaping without
being able to take advantage of it during the
evening hours. It
Outdoor patio lighting has three main functions,
Kinzer said: beauty, safety and security.
Downlighting -- mounting light fixtures in large
trees or from leaves and aiming them downward
-- highlights gardens or trees. Uplighting --
placing a fixture in the ground and aiming them
upward -- accentuates a home's trees, trellis
or archway. Backlighting -- illuminating an object
or plant from behind -- provides a dramatic effect.
Overhead lighting can illuminate the faces of
visitors.
Malibu, the industry's largest supplier of low-voltage
landscape lighting, manufactures floodlights,
walkway lights, tier lights and recessed lights.
During the past two years, metal lighting has
grown in popularity; its pricing is competitive
with plastic lights.
At The National Hardware Show in August, Osram
Sylvania introduced a new family of landscape
lighting, including general purpose, directional,
decorative and specialty lighting. Last year,
the supplier became involved with exterior lighting,
and now offers low-voltage halogen floodlights
and spotlights to uplight or down-light trees,
statues or anything else the homeowner wishes
to highlight. Low-voltage halogen walkway lighting
can be used to line pathways or steps. To add
some excitement to porch lanterns, Sylvania makes
decorative flame-shaped bulbs and Double LifeCrystal
Decor bulbs, which lend a sparkly effect owing
to its diamond-cut surface, to add some excitement
to porch lanterns.
Kinzer credits home improvement dealers for increased
sales by increasing the visibility and availability
of outdoor lighting products. As with many categories,
an effective display can go a long way toward
selling outdoor lights.
Most home centers and hardware stores stock exterior
outdoor patio lighting products in the electrical
department; however, some retailers also sell
them in other store areas.
At some Menard's locations, for example, the
low-voltage and standard outdoor patio lighting
are displayed in the front entryway as well as
the electricals department to let customers see
the lights' impact upon walking into the store.
Home Depot has begun setting up lighting displays
in its stores' nursery areas as well as in the
electricals departments. Some of Depot's stores
display lighting products in the seasonal departments
as well.
With the help of manufacturers, retailers are
using a number of creative approaches to show
off their outdoor patio lighting assortments.
TruServ which has expanded its outdoor patio
lighting inventory to include 120 decorative and
80 functional skus, recently unveiled new slot-wall
gondola displays that show working models, said
Roy Werner, a the co-op's lighting buyer.
Malibu provides a number of display options for
retailers, including a four-foot garden wall fixture
made with cedar fencing and artificial turf, which
can hold several illuminated lights. Malibu's
solar light counter demonstrates a single solar
light, which can be turned on when a button is
touched.
Sylvania recently completed a video for retail
stores to promote outdoor patio lighting and to
suggest innovative ways to use it. It's one thing
to see products on a shelf, Champagne said. It's
another to see how it would look in an actual
yard or on a patio. The customers are urged to
take a flashlight out into their yard to see how
it will look with uplighting, downlighting and
sidelighting.
The company also provides "A Guide to Outdoor
Lighting," a free landscape lighting guide
for customers with a toll-free number to answer
questions.
|
