Blurred Lines: Lighting Shows Become Less Specific to Cater to Crossover Business
It started at LightFair maybe 20 years ago, when you would see a few lighting showroom owners walking the exhibit hall, taking a look at the latest developments in lighting technology — mostly for educational purposes, but also because they had the occasional local restaurant or office project.
Since then, more decorative residential lighting manufacturers began exhibiting at Lightfair as well as LEDucation, which was originally an architectural project-oriented show and now has grown to include manufacturers who do almost as much business on the residential side as they do commercial.
Next month at Lightovation in Dallas – which has long been the go-to show for decorative residential lighting fixtures – there are more architectural and commercial-oriented companies making their Lightovation debut. Granted, it’s not the first time that companies offering light commercial products (Juno, Nora, Pure Edge, WAC, GM Lighting, LED Inspirations, Sonneman, and DALS, are among the past and present exhibitors) have exhibited at Lightovation, but the category has definitely been in the minority. See previous USLT article for the list of names of new Lightovation exhibitors.
The lines between residential and commercial/hospitality projects continue to blur for both the manufacturers and distributors, and the recent downturn in homebuying activity has resulted in more lighting showrooms pivoting to light commercial projects to expand their reach into multifamily, restaurants, offices, and boutique retail projects.
Even the annual ArchLIGHT Summit show, which targets the architectural design community, has had its share of decorative lighting exhibitors such as Hudson Valley Lighting Group, Eurofase, Hanover Lantern, iGuzzini, Hunter Fan Co., and Pablo Designs.
Have we reached an era in the lighting industry where trade shows are no longer categorized as commercial, architectural, and residential and now every exhibit floor will offer a well-rounded assortment of all types of lighting, including hospitality-focused businesses? It all depends on how the industry continues to evolve. Some attendees of these shows tell USLT that they appreciate being able to see the lighting category in its totality because their project scope has expanded, while others prefer the smaller footprint of a trade show that caters to a specific niche. What are your thoughts? Email me and share your opinion with your peers.
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