More Big Moves in North Jersey
Two large Northern New Jersey lighting agents join forces in agency consolidation
Diversified, a major lighting agency in the Philadelphia and New Jersey markets is joining forces with Liberty Lighting Group. This move follows a series of agent-manufacturer shuffling in the North Jersey market that has occurred in recent years, and a flurry of activity in recent months that saw the market’s largest agent, Liberty Lighting Group, part ways with its conglomerate lighting manufacturer partner.
The newly combined agency will go to market under the Diversified name and will bolster the representation of several major lines in the territory including Hubbell Lighting. Both agents already have longstanding synergies with some notable lines in common including Finelite, Kenall, USAI and Totowa-based Coronet. There is no plan to immediately consolidate offices at this time, but that will likely occur in the future.
This consolidation allows for one agent to have more involvement in being the sole entity for servicing projects and distributor stock-and-flow business that often aren’t contained by agency territory boundaries. Two of the market's largest distributor chains, Cooper Electric Supply (Sonepar) and Turtle & Hughes have offices and decision makers in North Jersey, with branches in the Philadelphia metro area.
Before joining forces, Liberty Lighting Group and Diversified were believed to be the two largest agencies in the market. North Jersey is generally considered to be part of the New York City metro area, but even without NYC, North Jersey is a top 15 U.S. market.
Below is the press release from Diversified:
Diversified Joins Forces with Liberty Lighting Group in North Jersey
Diversified, the leading lighting representative of Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the entire state of New Jersey, announced its North Jersey division will combine with Liberty Lighting Group to provide specifiers, contractors, distributors, and building owners with best-in-class products and services for their lighting and control needs. This expanded team, centered in the heart of North New Jersey, will feature the region’s most complete line card and a deep roster of lighting professionals with decades of experience directly serving that marketplace. With a clear focus on providing “total solutions” complete with lighting and controls, the new Diversified team will combine the right products with thoughtful design and service, all delivered locally and with customer needs front and center.
Bruce King, CEO of Diversified, stated “Our entry into the North Jersey market 18 months ago has been a great success. The chance to combine the top two agencies into a strong, customer centric team was an opportunity too big to pass up. By joining forces, we will be able to provide the highest level of service to our customers locally and in adjacent markets. That is a win for our 140+ associates and especially for our customers. We will be going to market under the Diversified brand in all markets we serve.”
Bob Czarny, President of Liberty Lighting Group, stated “Joining forces with Diversified New Jersey was the ideal path to maintain our leadership role in our marketplace. Joining our lines gives us the most complete set of solutions to continue our valued relationships with our long-standing customers. Furthermore, we greatly appreciate the loyalty of those customers and factories during this past month and this union will allow us to continue earning that bond as we grow together. I also want to thank all of my dedicated employees who helped me build Liberty Lighting Group over the last 28 years and for those who helped us most recently this last year during the pandemic.”
Added Michael Buchwald of Diversified NJ, “Ken Noll and I joined the Diversified family in 2019 as Principals and since that time, we have been able to accelerate the growth of our business by leveraging the strength and resources of the broader Diversified team. Joining forces with Liberty Lighting Group will allow us to do much more for our customers every day. We are building something special, and we are confident our customers will benefit the most from this partnership.”
In addition to joining the agencies and integrating the teams over the next few months, Diversified will place considerable focus on optimizing the line card of both territories. “Lighting manufacturers appreciate our track record of success,” commented Lance Hollner, EVP for Diversified. “Offering the top teams in both Philadelphia and all of New Jersey provides considerable opportunities for manufacturers to maximize sales in these markets. We look forward to showcasing the combined strength of our entire team and continuing to deliver the best product offering to the market.”
About Diversified & Liberty Lighting Group
Diversified is a leading representative of high-quality lighting and controls. Representing well-known brands from Hubbell, Legrand, Leviton, and many others, Diversified’s five local resource centers have been enabling the construction community for over 50 years.
Liberty Lighting Group is one of the most respected and trusted manufacturer’s representatives of architectural, commercial, industrial, and residential lighting products and controls. Liberty Lighting Group has been serving electrical distributors, electrical contractors, designers, and developers in the 13 counties of the northern New Jersey market for 28 years.
For additional information, please contact Bob Czarny 973-701-0600 or Mike Buchwald 973-439-1524, or visit our websites at https://diversified-phl.com, https://diversified-nj.com, or http://www.llgnjinc.com.
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