Page 46 - Lighting Magazine December 2019

UNDER
THE
RADAR
“Another one of our recent ‘claims to fame’ is offering a complete choice of mixed metals and allowing the consumer to mix and match any one of our 9 colors together for their own custom look at no upcharge,” Marash says.
Secondchance
After mastering the initial steps of accepting responsibility for past actions, recognizing one’s in- ability to control alcohol intake, surrendering to a higher power, and working on oneself, Marash was ready to get his work life back on track. Entering another field never crossed his mind.
“Lighting has been my life since I was a junior in high school, when I worked as a draftsman for Leonard Geringer (aka LG, ELGEE, ELGEE WEST) in 1974,” he states. [Geringer eventually retired and sold ELGEE to David Littman of Littman Group/ Hudson Valley Lighting and Marash founded Land- mark Lighting.]
He decided to go back to basics, visiting factories in China where he had relationships in the past. Observing that the current market was full of me- too merchandise at ridiculously low prices, Marash opted to do the opposite. He selected a simple, one-light, wall-mounted fixture as his first product and made quality the priority.
“Everyone was concerned with making things cheaper, but I wanted to make this fixture better than anyone else. I wanted to upgrade the quality with features like heavy-cast backplates, porcelain sockets, solid brass swivels and necks, hand-blown glass, and a variety of finishes. And instead of the typical one-year warranty, I give a lifetime war- ranty on the wiring and two years on the finish,” he explains. “The customer can pick their own glass, finish, and model. It’s like they’re making their own custom piece. It’s known as the ‘HOW IT WORKS’ method, which also ties into AA’s method of recovery.”
Marash named his new venture Innovations Light- ing and adopted these words as his business creed: “Create a quality product at a fair price, make a commitment to service, and the customer will re- peatedly purchase with confidence.” The company tag line is, “Creativity meets evolutionary design.”
Raising the capital necessary to see this idea to fruition – even on the bare bones level – was
42 enLIGHTenment Magazine | DeceMber 2019
www.enlightenmentmag.com