July 18, 2025
The Westward March of Bell & McCoy
The quiet acquisition of a Phoenix agency and move into Vegas tells a louder story
On paper, it’s a modest transaction: Bell & McCoy, the sprawling rep agency juggernaut now fused with the Southeast's FRM, has acquired Bob Jones & Associates, a 50-year-old lighting and electrical manufacturers' rep based in Phoenix. The deal doesn’t come with marquee lighting lines or immediate seismic impact. There’s no headline manufacturer changing hands. No bold strategic alliance unveiled.
And yet, it’s part of a much bigger pattern — one that’s continuing to reshape the geography of power in the rep agency world.
The acquisition marks Bell & McCoy’s second agency pick-up in Arizona in just over a year, following their February 2024 purchase of Wild West Lighting in Scottsdale. Together, the two firms give the Texas-based agency a formidable toehold in a market that has historically resisted consolidation, with over 90 lighting manufacturers now represented under Bell & McCoy banners across the state — including marquee names like Cree Lighting and Williams.
Bob Jones & Associates is a hybrid operation — straddling electrical and lighting, with a manufacturer roster that includes lighting and electrical brands like Halco, Nora, Orbit, and Intermatic. Jeff Jones, who has led the agency in recent years, will stay on as General Manager overseeing operations across Arizona and Nevada, according to a company press release. The acquisition also marks Bell & McCoy’s first formal presence in Nevada — an expansion backed by new warehousing infrastructure in Las Vegas.
“It’s a great opportunity for our people,” Jones said. “Our companies have a lot in common and similar cultures.”
Which is true. But it’s also worth noting what the release leaves out.
A Pattern, Not an Outlier
In May 2025, Bell & McCoy made waves with what may have been their largest acquisition to date: the purchase of Smart Lighting Solutions, a well-established Atlanta rep agency with Lutron and Current on its line card. That move was significant not just for its scale — likely Bell & McCoy’s largest lighting agent acquisition to date — but because it placed Bell & McCoy in Georgia for the first time.
Since the 2023 merger with FRM, the combined entity — reportedly now north of $2 billion in sales — has pursued a methodical expansion strategy. The acquisitions aren’t random. They tend to fall in underserved or underpenetrated markets where Bell & McCoy doesn’t yet carry major brands like Lutron or Current.
Arizona, for example, is one of the few territories where Bell & McCoy still lacks exclusive Current and Lutron partnerships. That could be a liability. Or it could be the reason they’re quietly building a team there, hedging for the day when those lines become available.
Bigger Picture Angles
Unlike Smart Lighting or Wild West — which were primarily lighting agencies — Bob Jones & Associates comes with a split personality. On the electrical side, they rep Intermatic, Orbit, and a handful of other utility and control brands. That gives Bell & McCoy more than just geographic breadth — it extends their product scope in a way that could matter if supply chain or regulatory pressures shift in favor of vertically integrated reps.
There’s also the warehouse in Las Vegas — an initiative Bell & McCoy is launching with KingWire. This all fits the emerging blueprint.
So the Bob Jones deal won’t move markets. But that’s not the point. It’s another incremental, calculated move in a broader strategy — one that’s quietly redrawing the rep agency map, territory by territory. Bell & McCoy isn’t chasing headlines. They’re building infrastructure. And when the manufacturers are ready to consolidate, they’ll already be there.
