Day 2 at SDA Showcase 2026

Day 2 of SDA Showcase 2026 kept the aisles busy at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. Hosted by SDA Lighting & Controls, the show wrapped on 7 OCT with ceiling-integrated linears, custom pendants, and a brand-new architectural line drawing the most attention.

Cliff Smith, Publisher of designing lighting (dl), worked the floor again and stopped at six booths. The common thread was integration: lighting that disappears into the ceiling, the grid, or the architecture itself.

WAC Group: WAC Architectural Makes Its New York Debut

Gary Haray, of WAC Group, introduced WAC Architectural, the specification-grade brand WAC launched at Light + Building earlier this year. The line targets precision optics and high output for event spaces, venues, and interior and exterior projects. It also moves WAC into high-ceiling and high-output segments it hasn’t traditionally served.

Manning Lighting: From a Napkin to United Airlines HQ

Manning Lighting showed its standard products alongside something a bit more unusual. Andy Manning walked Cliff through a custom fixture now installed at United Airlines headquarters in Chicago.

The project started when lighting design firm Schuler Shook Lighting Design brought Manning a concept sketched on a napkin. From there, the team moved through submittal drawings, 3D models, and a prototype before the final fixture shipped. The finished pendants deliver LED uplight and downlight, and they even carry airliner-style rivets. It’s a good reminder that custom work still starts with a conversation.

JLC-Tech: Gemini 1-Inch Joins the Family

Greg Campbell, Chief Commercial Officer at JLC-Tech, introduced the Gemini 1-inch. It joins the existing 2-inch and 4-inch sizes in the Gemini family.

“We’re known for structurally integrated lighting,” Greg said. Gemini delivers continuous runs of light up to 8 feet, with cross-tee elements built right into the fixture. As a result, contractors don’t have to frame out a slot before installing it. The fixture lands on center to the grid, and the ceiling is completed around it.

The JLC-Tech product also ships with a Twist Clip, which lets installers cut and fit ceiling tiles directly against the fixture. The payoff is a clean, continuous line of light that looks like part of the ceiling, not something added to it.

ERCO: Flexibility at Every Scale

At ERCO, Olli Heller, Vice President of Sales for North America, focused on flexibility and size. He started with the company’s smallest recessed fixture, a tiny, aimable unit with interchangeable light distributions. At 8 to 10 feet from the target surface, “one watt is all you need,” Olli said.

ERCO’s track heads carried the same theme. Lenses swap easily, from narrow spot to extra-wide flood, oval, and wallwash. In addition, controls on the back of the fixture can be changed after installation.

Graypants: Loci Tells a Story

Seth Grizzle of Graypants showed Loci, the Seattle studio’s custom pendant system, built as a kit of parts. Designers can mix diffusers and combine lit and unlit elements to create interactive installations. The goal, Seth explained, is to tell a design story through light within the architectural space.

Inter-lux and Whitegoods: Let the Walls Do the Work

Finally, at Inter-lux, the team focused on wash and graze products from Whitegoods. The Whitegoods philosophy is to light vertical surfaces whenever possible and let those planes reflect light back into the space. The result is comfortable, indirect illumination, with the architecture itself lighting the room.

The Takeaway

Two days, more than 30 brands, and a steady stream of designers and specifiers. SDA Showcase 2026 is another sign that rep-hosted shows have become essential stops on the lighting calendar. Instead of hiking miles of convention center aisles, attendees get focused time with manufacturers and real conversations with the people behind the products. They also get a chance to see fixtures working in a setting much closer to the projects they’re specifying.

For manufacturers, the math is just as compelling. Rep shows put them in front of the local design community that actually writes the specs, at a fraction of the cost of a national booth. \. As national trade shows continue evolving, regional rep shows are filling the gap, and SDA Lighting & Controls has turned its Showcase into one of the must-attend events.