Page 12 - Lighting Magazine November 2018

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college and Fogle came from the Army. “Keith and I were always friends and
stayed in touch,” Raubenstine notes. When word got around town that Philips might entertain the idea of selling the Hanover name, the two men decided to band together.
“Initially, we’ll relaunch some of the most exciting [original] Hanover product,” Raubenstine remarks. “Then we’ll start looking at new designs.” At its busiest, Hanover had a team of four engineers developing product.
To start, the rst quality cast aluminum o ering will be in four sizes (small, medium, large, and grande) and have hand-painted nishes. “Customers
felt that no one else o ered anything
like what Hanover had. They liked the thickness of the casting, the a ention to detail, and our ability to make changes on the y — a larger company loses that ex- ibility,” he comments. “That is what made Hanover what it was. You could design your xture to a degree instead of having one box, one avor, and one option — take it or leave it. Our product gives the consumer more ownership of the xture then just grabbing a box o of a shelf.”
In light of the tari s on Chinese imports imposed this year, Raubenstine and Fogle predict more consumers will be looking to buy U.S.-made product. “Our distributors are excited to have that as a selling point,” Raubenstine states.
Hanover Lantern never had a trade showroom (with the exception of a
few products in the Philips Lighting showroom at Dallas Market Center), but was able to show the line through its rep network and hospitality suites.
“A lot of reps who had the line earlier are excited we’re back,” Raubenstine says. “I’ve go en many phone calls asking to be a part of it.” As of press time, KTR Associates in the New York/New Jersey area, Ro ner Lighting Sales in Georgia, and Langlais Group in New England are on board.
Hanover Lantern is located at 425 East Middle Street in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
FHANOVER NTERN RETURNS
ans of the domestically made former employees to come back and outdoor lighting line can rejoice. Two reprise their roles with the company. former long-time employees of the “In its heyday, Hanover Lantern had
original Hanover Lantern were able to come to terms with Philips – which had acquired Hanover Lantern from Genlyte in 2008 and then discontinued the
line in 2016 – and start anew under the new business entity Hanover Outdoor Products. Hanover Lantern will remain the brand’s name.
At the helm of the new company are Tim Raubenstine, President & CEO, and Keith Fogle, Vice President & COO, who have more than 39 combined years in executive roles at the previous Hanover Lantern.
Since its start in 1970, Hanover Lantern was renowned for its American-made, premium-quality cast aluminum outdoor lighting and accent items; distributors and consumers alike were disappointed when the line strayed from its domestic roots under the most recent ownership.
Raubenstine and Fogle have good news for those who miss that original cra s- manship. The two – along with newly appointed plant manager Ken Rohrbaugh, who was a lead supervisor at Hanover for 27 years previously – have hired many
130 employees. Right now we have 15 people, but we expect that to grow,” Raubenstine says. The deal to purchase Hanover Lantern from Philips took nearly 18 months to be nalized, but in that time Hanover Outdoor Products was able to renovate an existing 13,000-sq.- . build- ing in the Hanover area and start se ing up equipment in October.
As it was in the old days, the company’s strategy will be to source component ma- terials from local suppliers and foundries, then cra and assemble its products in Hanover for the North American market. Production is not expected to start until mid-November.
“We look forward to relaunching the company with the help of past and future employees. It’s important to us to bring back this locally owned manufactur-
ing business to the Hanover area that
will help grow our community and our company,” Raubenstine comments. The rejuvenation of the brand has personal meaning to Raubenstine and Fogle. Ha- nover Lantern was their rst major job in the 1990s; Raubenstine was fresh out of
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Tim Raubenstine and Keith Fogle hold up a plaque outlining their company’s goals.