Sven's Shoes was established in 1974. Located in Chisago City, MN, Sven's produces over 20,000 pairs of shoes annually. Many of these are custom shoes, and have even been seen on the feet of Hollywood stars! Sven's has made and sold their products out of their factory/retail shop for most of these years, but when an opportunity to separate their retail operation became available, company President and owner Marie Rivers jumped at the chance. When it came to lighting her new store, Marie called Premier Lighting.
Sven's new store, formerly a car wash that was totally renovated to meet Rivers' and Sven's needs, is 2,200 square feet including storage area. Rivers has long had an interest in LED lighting and elected to explore that option with Premier. The original location lighting produced excessive heat which stressed the A/C and consumed a lot of energy.
Sven's has used LED lighting on a selective basis previously, but quickly determined that mixed lighting sources, unless appropriately designed, does not produce a good effect. Premier partnered with Juno Lighting to explain the uses and benefits of LED in retail applications beyond obvious energy savings. And Rivers saw first-hand how lighting can impact and influence retail sales. She relates, "The impact of lighting upon sales is enormous! Inappropriate lighting will make great products look bad. And it is sad to see situations where the lighting hurts the sale."
Sven's also enjoys the other benefits of LED: cooler operating temperatures which tax the cooling system less, economical operation, maintenance savings, reduced recycling costs and simply an easier visual impact on both the customer and the employee.
Rivers says the LED improves the overall lighting of her store (which is brighter) and this is easier on the eyes, making the employee's job easier which ultimately improves morale and thus productivity. Everyone, employees and customer alike, are more comfortable with the LED lighting.
While rebates from Xcel Energy were a consideration, they were not as important as the other LED benefits: the rebates were the "frosting on the cake."
As far as recommending LED to other retail outlets, Rivers states, "listen to your resources! When options are offered, listen. An owner needs to look at the long term versus short term cost. With the benefits and savings, why not do this?"
Sven's finds LED lighting to be positive at all levels. Some of the benefits may not be as great as the others, but they can make big differences on sales and the bottom line!
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