Yazi Fletcher, one of the best-known figures in the field of hazardous location lighting, was noticeably absent from the Red Sky Lighting booth at LightFair last month. It came as a surprise to learn that he and his wife had been escorted out of the Red Sky facility in Racine, Wisconsin a few days prior.
I have had a longstanding friendship with Yazi, who had served as the face of Phoenix Lighting for 15 years. Given his prominent position, I had mistakenly assumed that he owned Red Sky Lighting. Thus, I was taken aback by the news of his departure from the company.
Interestingly, Yazi’s Linked In profile currently lists him as the owner of Red Sky Lighting, assuming the role of Founder/Visionary and Minority Owner since May 2023. In jest, he invites offers for his percentage of ownership. We are told that he earned a 20% stake in the company in 2020 and currently retains a 5% ownership position.
According to Yazi’s LinkedIn, the company derives its name from his son, Rowan Skye (Red Sky), as well as a popular weather sailor rhyme, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning.” It is worth noting that Yazi established the company in April 2017.
However, our sources indicate that Yazi’s managerial role within Red Sky Lighting was revoked in July 2022 by Wenfeng (Michael) Tian. We believe Tian to be the majority owner of Red Sky Lighting and NJZ, a Nanjing-based company in China that supplies hazardous location luminaires under various private labels to a few US companies. We have always known that NJZ was the primary supplier to Red Sky, we did not know they were the primary owner.
Moving forward to May 2023, significant developments have occurred. On May 5, the Racine manufacturing facility, where Red Sky Lighting products were assembled, received a 10-day notice that manufacturing operations would cease. Subsequently, in mid-May, all products and operational supplies were relocated to California.
The situation escalated on May 19, less than a week before LightFair, when the Racine employees were summoned for a meeting and subsequently terminated. Yazi Fletcher, along with his wife and son, were escorted out of the premises by security personnel.
Editor’s Note: Randy Reid, the editor of the EdisonReport has a sister company, LumEfficient, that competes with Red Sky Lighting in the hazardous location lighting space.