ELK Group International has announced its acquisition of the brand and associated inventory of one of the lighting industry’s best-known builder brands – Memphis-based Thomas Lighting – from Philips Lighting. According to ELK Group, adding Thomas’ portfolio of value-tailored products instantly positions the company to focus more aggressively on the construction market by providing a strong complement to its builder-friendly Cornerstone Lighting brand profile.
Thomas Lighting is one of the original pioneers of the lighting community’s “builder marketplace” — providing high-quality indoor/outdoor products to trade professionals for almost 90 years. Thomas Lighting has the distinction of being one of the largest suppliers of lighting in North America and enjoys an outstanding reputation in that market.
“It’s an honor to carry on the legacy of Thomas Lighting and we’re very excited about the possibilities,” states Bradford Smith, CEO of ELK Group. “By focusing our resources on growing and strengthening both Thomas and our market-specific Cornerstone Lighting line, we have the opportunity to significantly enhance our current offering to the construction professional. In addition to introducing a substantially increased range of budget-favorable lighting products designed specifically to appeal to the builder, we plan to actively expand our sales management, project coordination and customer service departments to best accommodate the client base.”
This acquisition is a game changer for ELK Group in several ways. Not only does it enhance ELK’s access to a robust segment of the lighting marketplace (the new construction market, which generated $79 billion in revenue in the U.S. alone from 2011-2016, with an annual growth rate of 9.2 percent), but the addition will also significantly bolster ELK’s value-oriented offering, which includes the Alico, Dimond Home, and ELK lighting brands, plus Lampworks, GuildMaster, and Stein World among others. The Thomas Lighting addition aids in providing ELK’s retail lighting customers with a greater variety of “opening price point” products.
