Talking Shop with...Bill Plageman

Bill Plageman, vice president of marketing and product management for Amerlux, talks about the overall impact lighting can have in grocery.

Tell us about Amerlux.

Bill Plageman: The Amerlux story is as brilliant as the lighting we produce. Established in 1984, we launched our business with a niche market specialty in supermarket lighting. From the beginning, we stood out as the first lighting company to use ceramic metal halide lamps in supermarket track and accent fixtures. 

Since then, Amerlux has grown exponentially, evolving into an important and popular lighting innovator. For retail, we have applied our experience, knowledge and creativity to design some of the most sophisticated lighting solutions available today.

As a nimble, independent lighting company we are small enough to really listen to our retail customers’ needs—and large enough to deliver perfectly engineered, world-class solutions. We are flexible and versatile, capable of everything from the most detailed custom products and platforms to our popular performance lines.

Like all of our products, Amerlux retail lines feature breathtaking precision, amazing optics and top energy and maintenance efficiencies, all designed to highlight products with the proper amount of light in their truest colors. Even more important, we design with retailers’ end goal in mind: making products “fly off the shelves.” Our goal is to help make that happen by showcasing products to make them simply irresistible.    

At Amerlux, we are passionate about enhancing retailers’ businesses through ours. We develop and apply powerful new ideas that ensure performance—and create spectacular results, both visually and on the bottom line.

What are your current solutions for retailers?

We have so many fabulous retail lighting solutions and product families. The Cylindrix line of streamlined accent luminaires punches through ambient light to get to the point: displays, shelves, merchandise. We are excited about the new Cylindrix III Mini; it is tiny, incredibly powerful, and versatile.

Our new 4.75 downlight in the Evoke family features architectural styling, comfort and control. We have reset the performance bar with new levels of beam control, higher output, crisper whites, expanded color options and extreme efficiencies.

Also coming soon are the exciting new Murro LED wall wash and the spectacular Velato, both of which were inspired by our customers. The Velato is still so new, I cannot reveal too much right now, except to say that it is a truly original concealed ceiling light with a quasi-custom vibe.

The Hornet line is our ultimate compact architectural LED powerhouse, and the soul of our retail lines. Small in size, Hornet performance is second to none: strong, focused, dimmable beams of light rendered in crispest whites and gorgeous colors. Our new Hornet HP downlight is one of our more recent additions to the Hornet line.

Why is it so important for retailers to maximize their lighting needs?

At Amerlux, we realized early on that in order to purchase, shoppers first had to visually fall in love with the apple-reds, pepper-greens and lemon-yellows. Our lighting compelled them to touch, squeeze and buy. We applied this sensory approach to our design and engineering, and in the process, revolutionized the lighting industry, especially in high-profit market areas.

It is the same for retailers, regardless of size or description. Triggering the senses through visual perception, we help shoppers see what retailers want them to see and how retailers want them to see it. This experiential approach has proven successful, time after time.

When a retailer realizes the importance of in-store lighting, what is the next step?

Visit our website. Give us a call. Drop us an email. Come experience our brand new headquarters and showrooms. We are ready to help propel your next project to success.

Talk about the future. How does Amerlux envision in-store lighting evolving into the coming decade?

Change comes fast in lighting, especially at Amerlux. We are always working on the next big thing—whether it is refining an older line or creating a whole new one. Either way, I see us evolving alongside—or even ahead of—technology for a long time to come.  GHQ