EdisonReport’s Top 10 Stories of 2023
Continuing our yearly tradition, we’re looking back on the year 2023 to see what stories interested you, our readers, the most. Like all previous Top 10s, the list is decided by total number of views, from greatest to least. Here are the top 10 stories of 2023. Your humble editor shares notes and comments about each story.
Our anonymous tip line received an alert that Universal Douglas had closed their doors. After two and a half decades, it’s rare for our leads to be off mark, but verification is key. Because I live in Nashville, I simply drove to Universal. The front was locked and no one answered by knocking. Fortunately, a side door by the restroom had been propped open. I entered, finding a handful of former employees in shock.
In my role, I’ve developed mutual relationships with many CEOs due to the interconnected nature of our work. Over the past twenty-five years I’ve had the privilege of direct access to industry leaders. However, a rapport with Maryrose Sylvester, former CEO of GE Lighting, remained elusive as she rarely returned my calls or email. When Manish was named CEO, I could not repeat may failure with Maryrose. Fortunately, our relationship was immediate and strong, marked by numerous conversations on-the-record and off-the-record throughout his leadership.
Increasingly, representatives are engaging in legal disputes with manufacturers they once represented. Various state laws, like those in Wisconsin, appear to support representatives in these conflicts, whereas other states, such as Tennessee, do not offer similar protections. Despite a historical reluctance among representatives to litigate against former manufacturers due to concerns over being black-balled by the industry, this trend is shifting, with more willing to pursue legal recourse.
Chicago is a very tumultuous market. It is not surprising that Force Partners would lose the Cooper line and cease operations. What is surprising is the tremendous success that the new Cooper Rep, The Lighting Digest led by Ashley Williams, would achieve in less than one year.
Initially, the strategic value of this acquisition to Signify was not fully evident to me. However, after engaging with the team and exploring their technology at the recent NYControlled show, it became clear how this move has enhanced Cooper Lighting Solutions’ offerings.
We knew that Cree Lighting was languishing under the ownership of Ideal, as the synergies just never lined up. Lighting is not quite as easy as outsiders assume. The sale was not surprising, but the acquirer, ADLT, the owner of Venture Lighting, was surprising. This story affected EdisonReport as lost a very talented writer when Shirley Coyle went back to run the Cree Lighting Canada operation.
I support LightFair and I think most in our industry agree that a strong LightFair is good for our industry, as well as important to IES and IALD. There was some good news this year in that Lutron, ETC, Ecosense, TLS, WE-EF, and Griven returned in 2023 as well as a few new exhibitors including BOLD, Landscape Forms, Luxam, and WILA.
We received early information from a source in Europe regarding the reorganization at Signify approximately six weeks before the official announcement—but I needed a second, independent source. Signify’s leadership chose not to comment. Finally, I was able to get a second source. At the time I published this story, Signify’s shares were trading around €24. By the end of last week, the stock price had risen, closing at €30.74.
“Joining the LMPG family is a major milestone for ALW and represents the successful execution of our strategy to build an incredible architectural lighting team and brand. This is a fantastic fit and opportunity to leverage the expertise of the entire LMPG organization…” said Jeff Croskey, CEO of ALW. LMPG has been on an acquisition roll, and would pick up 4 companies in less than 12-months.
A jury trial awarded Cao $2M in damages in a patent litigation trial against Current. We reached out to Current for comment and they had none, which is not surprising. What is surprising is not only did their expert witness have a comment—they issued their own press release, which seems to claim credit for reducing the award from $50M to $2M.
These were the defining stories that made headlines in 2023, as reported by EdisonReport. As staunch advocates for the lighting industry, we extend our best wishes to all our stakeholders for a happy and prosperous 2024. And, with the buzz about potential interest rate reductions, that prosperity might just be on the horizon.