July 6, 2022
Diversified Moves into New York Territory
Large Northeast lighting agent sets sights on the largest U.S. market
When Nora Lighting teams up with a new agent, such a move would not typically inspire a 700-word article about it. But this instance is different.
Here’s the first snippet of news: Nora Lighting is expanding its representation partnership with Diversified – one of the largest lighting agencies in the Northeast U.S. – beyond the existing Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey footprint. Diversified will represent Nora Lighting in the entire New York Metro Area including New York City and Long Island. And the New York Metro market will be served from Nora Lighting’s recently announced distribution center in Edison, New Jersey.
This, we believe, is Diversified’s first C&I lighting partnership in New York City – with more to come.
Diversified NY:
During the last couple of years, multiple Philly-based lighting agents have expanded into the New York City market. Illuminations Inc., the longtime Acuity Brands agent, acquired New York Digital and expanded into Northern New Jersey last year. Synergy acquired Pyramid Lighting over a year ago and has built a New York-to-Philly presence with some formidable lines. And now, Diversified seems to be making some moves indicating that they, too, may be pursuing the same Mid-Atlantic footprint with its entry into New York City.
Nora Lighting is a respectable distributor/contractor lighting brand that has potential to do at least low seven figures of revenue in NYC Metro and may already be doing so. While it’s a good brand, it might not be an “anchor brand” that a startup New York agent would build a line card or a local presence around. So we are imagining that there are more announcements to come out of Diversified – especially considering Diversified’s propensity to be a top-tier agent with strong focus on the project and specification business in its existing territories.
Diversified’s notion of moving into New York City is not something new. On the same day in 2019 when Diversified registered the web domain name diversified-nj.com, it also bought the diversified-ny.com and diversified-nyc.com domain properties. No website currently exists for either of the NY domains.
New York Business Formation
When Diversified acquired theatrical lighting agent, Ron Fogel & Associates in 2020, the agency took on a handful of specialty lines (Canto, Aquarii and The Light Source) that involved representation in New York City and other counties east of the Hudson River.
But this Nora Lighting move is not just another under-the-radar NYC line. We believe that it is likely to be the first of many more to come. On June 24, Diversified entered a filing with the New York Department of State for a new business entity called DIVERSIFIED NY, INC. – a similar move to their Diversified NJ, Inc. incorporation that occurred before their entry into Northern New Jersey.
When asked for comment, Diversified acknowleged NY City representation of Nora Lighting and the three specialty lines cited above. Bruce King, CEO of Diversified, stated "We are excited to take this measured step into the New York market. While multiple factories have asked us about representation over the past few years, we are taking a very focused approach with this effort, and we continue to partner closely with our specification agency partners in New York City."
Diversified also shared that Michael Buchwald, who spent a considerable part of his career in the New York City market, will lead this effort with strong support from Diversified’s New Jersey office and the collective Diversified leadership team.
Will Diversified Join Forces with Another Agency?
Diversified is no stranger to acquiring or joining forces with other C&I lighting agencies. In 2017 Diversified acquired Philly lighting agent, Marty Berman Associates. In 2019, Diversified purchased Northern New Jersey agent, ELA to become the first pure-play C&I lighting agency to formally connect the Philadelphia & North Jersey territories under one umbrella. And just last year, Diversified joined forces with North Jersey's Liberty Lighting Group to become what many consider to be the largest agency in the territory.
The new business formation of DIVERSIFIED NY, INC. in New York County (Manhattan) and not Queens County causes us to put less credence into swirling whispers that Diversified would acquire or team up with a certain Queens-based lighting agent. Joining forces with a Manhattan agent or any other agent, Queens-based or otherwise, remains a possibility, but until we get confirmation we won’t name names with any “word on the street” or “we are hearing” rumors.
As recently as 2019, Diversified claimed to be the number one North American lighting agent for both Hubbell Lighting and Kenall, and that still may be true today. Lighting conglomerates and packages are less important in New York City than they are in Pennsylvania and up-and-down the Jersey Turnpike, so while marrying with New York-based ELA, the current Hubbell Lighting agent (now Current™ HLI Brands), would be natural speculation for some, there could be at least a dozen other agents in New York that might make attractive partners, too.
Whether Diversified grows its NYC presence one line at a time or with some big splash partnership(s) remains to be seen, but we believe that Diversified’s NYC push is coming. It’ll be interesting to watch them assemble more lines and local talent as the marketplace dynamics unfold.
