The power of one: Visual Comfort and Circa Lighting are combining
Twelve years ago, lighting industry power siblings Gale and Andy Singer hired a marketing consultant to take a close look at their two businesses. Andy’s, Visual Comfort, had become a premier manufacturer of lighting to both retailers and the design trade. Meanwhile, Gale had built up a small but thriving network of four Circa Lighting showrooms that specialized in selling—you guessed it—Visual Comfort.
The consultant had a simple idea: Merge the two businesses under one name. He made a list of pros and cons, which the Singers carefully considered, then rejected. “It was an interesting concept,” Andy tells Business of Home. “But we didn’t want to do it at the time.”Read More : Energy efficient bulbs lighting the future Since then, a lot has changed. A private equity deal in 2014 saw the Singers merge their two businesses under one corporate umbrella. In 2017, another deal merged them with the Generation family of lighting brands to create a group that now includes Tech Lighting, Generation Lighting and Monte Carlo. Meanwhile, Circa has expanded to 36 showrooms. Visual Comfort itself has grown too.
More than a decade later, considering the same question under a different set of circumstances, the Singers have changed their minds: Now, they do want to unite. Over the next year, the Circa Lighting brand will be phased out, and all of its showrooms will be renamed “Visual Comfort.” In January 2023, the two companies will also merge websites into a single entity—visualcomfort.com—that combines wholesale and direct e-commerce.
“A lot of thinking has gone into this decision, and based on the world today and the opportunity to tell a story that everybody can learn from us, this makes a lot of sense,” says Andy. “There are a lot of benefits for the company in terms of organizing all of our efforts and marketing dollars behind one brand.”
The consultant had a simple idea: Merge the two businesses under one name. He made a list of pros and cons, which the Singers carefully considered, then rejected. “It was an interesting concept,” Andy tells Business of Home. “But we didn’t want to do it at the time.”
More than a decade later, considering the same question under a different set of circumstances, the Singers have changed their minds: Now, they do want to unite. Over the next year, the Circa Lighting brand will be phased out, and all of its showrooms will be renamed “Visual Comfort.” In January 2023, the two companies will also merge websites into a single entity—visualcomfort.com—that combines wholesale and direct e-commerce.
“A lot of thinking has gone into this decision, and based on the world today and the opportunity to tell a story that everybody can learn from us, this makes a lot of sense,” says Andy. “There are a lot of benefits for the company in terms of organizing all of our efforts and marketing dollars behind one brand.”
Source: businessofhome.com
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