December 27, 2024
FRM's Carolina Acquisition Spree Continues
TEAM Lighting Greensboro joins FRM. One TEAM office remains an outlier.
FRM Lighting & Controls has taken another step toward consolidating its presence in North Carolina, with the acquisition of TEAM Lighting’s Greensboro office. This marks the third of TEAM’s four offices to be absorbed into FRM's growing southeastern network. Longtime TEAM Lighting Greensboro principal, Chris Trent, will join FRM, bringing with him years of expertise and established relationships in the region.
This latest acquisition bolsters FRM’s foothold in central North Carolina and reinforces its strategic partnership with Current. With the earlier addition of TEAM’s Charlotte and Durham offices, FRM is steadily aligning TEAM’s territories with its vision of unified representation for top-tier lighting and controls manufacturers across the Carolinas.
These TEAM Lighting acquisitions follow two other agent acquisitions in the Carolinas: Premier Lighting & Control in South Carolina, acquired just four weeks after FRM's February 2024 purchase of Affiliated Lighting & Controls, which operated across the Carolinas and Florida.
Above: Territories of four independent TEAM Lighting operations. Map image couresy of TEAM Lighting.
TEAM Greenville: The Outlier Office
Despite the steady progress, one notable holdout remains: TEAM Lighting’s Greenville office. Covering the eastern region of North Carolina, Greenville's territory creates a conspicuous gap in FRM’s otherwise contiguous representation of Current Lighting in North and South Carolina. This situation is reminiscent of Charlotte’s iconic Thirsty Beaver Saloon, which famously resisted selling its property to developers. Just as the Thirsty Beaver remains a one-story dive bar surrounded on three sides by a towering 323-unit apartment complex, TEAM Greenville currently stands as an independent entity amidst FRM’s rapidly expanding presence.
It is unclear when Greenville’s manufacturer representative contract with Current Lighting expires, leaving some wondering how much negotiation clout TEAM Greenville can leverage. If FRM can't iron out an agreement with TEAM Greenville, the Carolinas may, for the time being, retain a fragmented Current representation structure, with FRM covering most of the territory except for the Greenville and eastern North Carolina markets.
Given the strengthening partnership between Current Lighting and FRM, along with its sister brand Bell & McCoy, across various southern markets, it seems likely that Current’s representation in eastern North Carolina will eventually transition to FRM — with or without TEAM Greenville becoming part of the equation. FRM’s acquisition of Affiliated Lighting & Controls has already provided it with a presence in eastern North Carolina, which could facilitate manufacturer coverage if Greenville remains independent.
Bell & McCoy/FRM is still reportedly in discussions with TEAM Greenville.
