12 Months of Major Lighting Changes in Chicago

Agent and manufacturer partnerships seem to constantly be in a state of flux. In every market throughout North America, agents part ways with manufacturers -- and manufacturers terminate contracts with agents. There is no one market, however, that experienced so many new agency appointments from larger lines over the last twelve months as Chicago has.

A year ago in January 2016, Acuity Brands shifted the recently-acquired Juno Lighting Group from Archibald & Meek to its incumbent Acuity agent, KSA Lighting. That move was the first of several new agent appointments by large ($100M+) manufacturers that shape a Chicago lighting market landscape that is largely unrecognizable compared to the one of a year ago. Some of the moves were interrelated. Others may have been standalone moves barley influenced by the ever-changing backdrop.

When large lines move, it's a big deal. Customers are asked to adapt. Distributors must call different people for assistance. Specifiers are asked to break years-long brand or product preferences to accommodate the line change from their most trusted agency spec-person. Agents that lose big lines, are sometimes forced to lose people, too. Ouch.

Since January 2016, there has been a wave of Factory/Agent transitions in Chicago

Juno Lighting transitions from Archibald & Meek to KSA Lighting.
PG enlighten and Eaton part ways. PG enlighten moves to Hubbell Lighting.
Cree changes from its factory-direct team to a new start-up agent. R&D Lighting and Controls.
Philips does the same. Chicago Lightworks.
RAB Lighting moves from Agents Midwest to Archibald & Meek.
Wattstopper announces its move from McDonald Assoc. to Chicago Lightworks.
A new, start-up Eaton agency, Force Partners, opens for business.

The Latest New Agent

Since August, when PG enlighten and Eaton parted ways, Eaton has had direct employees handling the Chicago territory as a temporary measure. On January 16, the new start-up Eaton agent, Force Partners, opened its doors.

Principals Pete Kokuzian and Brian Dauskurdas have solid sales leadership experience with Panduit and Lutron respectively. The agency online line card cites just 20+ lighting lines at the moment -- all Eaton brands. The line card omission of io Lighting leads us to believe that the specialty spec line will remain with independent spec agent, Morr Sharp Associates, where it's been since the mid-2000's.

Winners and Losers

It's too early to declare which manufacturers and agents will see the most gains from these recent moves. Feedback from the Windy City indicates that large, stable agent, KSA Lighting, is doing very well serving the market. Some Hubbell people in South Carolina seem to be pleased, too, as PG enlighten offers a larger-scale agency than the multiple smaller reps that have handled the Hubbell line in Chicago over last 15+ years.

Today there are several agents defining, or redefining themselves. They're young and hungry. They're gunning for more market share currently owned by the larger factories and agents. Time will tell which agents will be eating steak at Gibson's and which ones will be settling for a char-grilled Maxwell Street style Polish sausage with grilled onions and mustard at Portillo's.

Related: Portillo's menu

Below: A snapshot of the Chicago lighting marketplace in January 2017