June 27, 2023
Signify Inks New Agent Deals in Philadelphia
Two agencies, familiar to Signify, expand their partnerships
It’s official. One week after announcing that Signify is seeking different representation in the Philadelphia lighting market, the company has confirmed that the new agent for its Genlyte Solutions portfolio of luminaire brands, Interact, Philips Dynalite and Color Kinetics brands will be Synergy Electrical Sales.
Synergy adds those additional luminaire and controls product offerings to the existing Signify brand representation of Philips lamps and Advance drivers for the territory of Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and all three counties of Delaware. The change will be effective August 21, when the current 12+ year partnership with Penn Lighting Associates expires.
Additionally, we can confirm that Dave Murphy & Associates (DMA) will represent Signify’s brands to support municipality, utility and transportation lighting needs in the same Philadelphia metro market. DMA will be expanding south as the agency currently represents Signify in this channel segment in Northern New Jersey and the New York Metro Area.
The Signify-Synergy partnership makes the Philadelphia market the second-largest U.S. market where the Philips lamps, Advance drivers and all the luminaires are represented by one sole agent partner. In Northern California, ALR has a similar Signify portfolio.
Local favorite
In last week’s article, Signify to Partner with New Agent in Philadelphia, we cited Synergy as the odds-on favorite to get the Signify lines with 3:1 odds. New York/New Jersey Signify agent SLS was 7:1 odds, and Digital Filaments was 20:1. To our avid readers (and possible degenerate gamblers) in Macungie, Pennsauken and Delco who tried to get action on Synergy’s 3:1 odds, please know that those odds were published as satire.
Synergy line card
Synergy Electric Sales has been expanding its electrical and lighting line cards across multiple territories in recent years. In the Philly market, the company has represented local lighting controls juggernaut, Lutron, for many years – while also growing its lighting partnerships with key lines like Cree Lighting, BEGA, Maxlite and DMF. Without any inside knowledge we predict that Cree Lighting may be searching for a new home in the coming months, as these partnership deals often come with some line card negotiations attached to them. If that happens, Penn Lighting will likely be a top consideration.
Boathouse Row
Anyone who has ever suffered through a Schuylkill Expressway rush hour understands the local significance of Boathouse Row. Those 15 historic buildings along the murky waters of the Schuylkill River are currently in month 4 of an 8-month major upgrade project that involves what is likely a seven-figure Color Kinetics installation. Designed by leading architectural lighting design firm, The Lighting Practice (TLP), the fully designed system will enable dynamic RGBW light to dance along the river. We imagine that Penn Lighting will reap some rewards of the project, but we also expect Synergy to be involved in helping to project manage this complex installation before the autumn project deadline.
Comments from Synergy
The inside.lighting I-Team reached out to Synergy leadership on Monday night who shared the following comments:
“We're incredibly excited to redefine the rep model in the Philadelphia market with Signify’s partnership. Our roots may be deep in the supply side of the business, but we've spent the last decade investing in our specification lighting and service teams and building toward something greater."
"Our expanded partnership with Signify is a major milestone. We are extremely proud of the efforts of our team that brought us to this point. Our culture is driven by a sense of shared purpose and a common goal; we strive to build strong relationships with each other, with our customers and with manufacturers like Signify based on mutual respect and trust."
"This is just the beginning of something amazing.”
– Larry Rodger, President, Synergy Electrical Sales
Signify’s Bodine brand continues to be represented by Diversified.
