September 12, 2022
Acuity Brands Makes Big Changes in Atlanta
After 8-year divorce, Acuity Brands reunites with Lighting Associates
In 2014, Acuity Brands parted ways with longtime lighting agent partner, Lighting Associates, Inc. and joined forces with startup agent, Smart Lighting Solutions – a new agency that was partially funded by Acuity Brands and founded by Acuity Brands executive-turned-agency-principal, Geoff Marlowe.
Today, Atlanta-based Acuity Brands announced that it will be cutting ties with Smart Lighting Solutions throughout Georgia and reuniting with Lighting Associates for the entire state – including Savannah. Changes are effective October 13.
The Lighting Associates line card is currently anchored by Current HLI Brands (the brands formerly known as Hubbell Lighting) and Lutron. Local feedback from the market indicates that Current HLI and Lutron are likely being forced off Lighting Associates’ line card and will thus be up for grabs by other Georgia agents.
Top potential landing spots for Current HLI and Lutron include Smart Lighting Solutions, Next Generation Lighting (currently the Cree Lighting agent) and Southern Lighting Source (who currently represents the Current GLI brands). Ardd + Winter recently expanded its 10-year Georgia partnership with Cooper Lighting Solutions into South Carolina and seems unlikely to stray. Genlyte Solutions is partnered with SESCO Lighting in Atlanta and 15 other markets, so that relationship won’t likely be broken by the Current HLI opportunity in Atlanta.
The websites of both agents, Smart Lighting Solutions and Lighting Associates, each currently show 52 employees.
When a big brand like Acuity Brands changes hands in a market, it often sets off a chain reaction of other moves. We will report the landing spots of Current HLI, Lutron and any other major lines that make moves in the coming months.
