October 17, 2025
Bold Move: Kenall Aligns With SESCO Across the South
Many longtime Acuity agents are simultaneously losing the Kenall line to SESCO
Kenall, long regarded as a leader in the vandal-resistant and healthcare lighting markets, is undertaking a broad transformation of its agent partnerships across the southern United States. The moves, communicated to legacy agent partners on Wednesday, bring nearly the entire southern region under the representation of SESCO Lighting, one of the largest lighting agencies in North America.
“Kenall Manufacturing, a Legrand company, has decided to partner with SESCO Lighting, Inc. in all territories in the South and Southeast except for the Georgia, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida markets,” said Jared Morello, Kenall’s recently appointed president. “The lighting channel is changing rapidly. Large, multistate lighting agents have become more commonplace and provide an efficiency that helps the growth of both partners. Kenall feels this decision will offer better growth opportunities throughout the entire region.”
In recent years, Legrand brands Wattstopper and Finelite have each made similar, though smaller-scale, shifts to SESCO representation in the southern United States. This seems to be the largest a wholesale change of this magnitude for a single Legrand brand since Encelium was acquired and folded into Wattstopper in 2022.
A Defining Move for Kenall and SESCO
SESCO has represented Kenall in Alabama for years, an established foundation that now extends dramatically. Earlier this year, SESCO moved into Texas through the acquisition of ERT Lighting & Sales and NEXGEN Lighting Solutions — both longtime Kenall partners — setting the stage for this broader alignment.
According to the Kenall website, these are the current agent partners in territories that appear to be shifting to SESCO in the near future:
Arkansas
• Long Sales Agency Incorporated – Little Rock, AR
Louisiana
• Lighting and Electric Associates
Mississippi
• Hartwell Cook & Associates – Jackson, MS
Florida
• Envision Lighting Systems – Western, FL
• Landreth Inc. – Orlando, FL
• Power & Lighting Systems Inc. – Miami, FL
Tennessee
• Clear Advantage Lighting – Memphis, TN
• Design Light – Nashville, TN
• Lighting Trends – Knoxville, TN
North Carolina
• Crown Lighting Group – Charlotte, NC
• K B Stephens & Associates – Wake Forest, NC
• R L Vanstory Company – Greensboro, NC
Kentucky
• Lumenation – Louisville, KY
Most of these firms rank among the top lighting agencies in their respective territories — often holding the #1 or #2 market position locally. With the exception of Lumenation in Kentucky, all are aligned with Acuity Brands Lighting, a dynamic that raises interesting competitive undertones. While Acuity isn’t widely viewed as heavy-handed when it comes to restricting its representatives from carrying competing lines, that alignment could indicate subtle channel pressures as this reshuffling unfolds.
For those agencies, the transition may be eased by emphasizing Acuity’s own adjacent offerings — Luminaire LED in the vandal-resistant segment and Nightingale in healthcare lighting — two brands that occupy similar specification spaces to Kenall.
The Exception: Ardd + Winter
The only region unaffected by the SESCO expansion is the Ardd + Winter territory, which encompasses Georgia, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida. Ardd + Winter maintains its long-standing relationship with Cooper Lighting Solutions and the associated Fail-Safe brand across its broader footprint.
Despite Ardd’s recent expansion — including a newly opened Tennessee office launched this summer after turbulence at JAW Lighting — Kenall opted to for continuity with SESCO’s longer-established Tennessee presence rather than expanding its relationship with Ardd + Winter into Tennessee.
A Calculated Risk With Ripple Effects
The affected markets undoubtedly represent a double-digit percentage of Kenall’s annual sales — possibly a significant double-digit share. Moves of this scale are rarely frictionless. Legacy agencies will continue servicing their active projects, meaning short-term turbulence is likely as sales pipelines transition and specifications reset under new representation.
These shifts often set off second-order effects across the regional ecosystem. Former Kenall reps may seek to replace the lost volume by adding new manufacturers, potentially accelerating competition in the vandal-resistant and healthcare lighting categories. Industry peers such as New Star Lighting, Kurtzon, and Viscor could see opportunities in markets where their presence is thinner — though this is less about dissatisfaction and more about redistributing under-served territory coverage.
Beyond the South: A Broader Legrand Playbook
For Legrand, the Kenall realignment extends an ongoing selected experiment in consolidation. Legrand’s lighting and controls brands have selectively steered multiple brands toward SESCO that promise consistent specification coverage, centralized marketing, and streamlined account management.
“Aligning across a larger geographic footprint will help drive additional growth opportunities for Kenall and SESCO,” Morello said.
In an era where even specialty lighting segments are influenced by efficiency, data sharing, and enterprise-level coordination, Kenall’s move signals that the era of regional patchwork representation may be giving way to megaregional partnerships.
The industry will watch closely as SESCO and Kenall test whether scale and specialization can coexist — and whether the risk of disruption in legacy relationships will be rewarded by unified growth in 2026 and beyond.
