Benefits
Bringing in an electrician to Buy-Low Foods stores could cost up to $2,000 per visit. By installing Cree® LED lighting, Buy-Low Foods is expected to save $8,745 in annual maintenance costs.
“As a designer, it only makes sense with the rising costs of electricity to choose products that will save the owners money in the long term,” Melchior adds, “as well as the inherent cost savings from the maintenance side which is a huge part of their operating costs.” Plus, with the 10-year limited warranty, you don’t have to worry about changing a light.
Pulice had someone knocking on his door trying to sell him LED lighting daily, and they often promised him the lowest price and a ten year warranty. He questioned what kind of recourse he would really have. If there were challenges or issues, would he have somewhere to go? Cree is not the cheapest solution out there, but if they were going to put in an investment of that size, by doing an entire store, he needed to be sure that he was dealing with a reliable manufacture.
“With Cree, I’m confident that I made the right choice. Since the opening in 2014, we haven’t had an issue, and we were really pleased with the end result,” said Pulice.
The end result is high performing, beautiful white light that can dramatically improve the visual appearance of fruits, vegetables and meats. Cree TrueWhite® Technology is perfect for grocery applications, because it delivers 90+ CRI, high R9 values, and accurate and consistent color — all while offering significant energy savings compared to traditional technologies.
From Melchior’s view, “The quality of light is non-intrusive and the diffusers provide a soft, even distribution down the aisles. I challenge any indirect traditional luminaire to do better.”
Cree has flexibility within their light levels to change a customer shopping experience that is unique to a select store. For example, Nesters Market stores lean towards lower light levels to give a more comfortable/cozier shopping experience. While Buy-Low Foods stores choose higher light levels to make the produce and groceries pop off the shelves.
“When we built the store and opened it up, there were a lot of comments on how comfortable it was,” Pulice adds, “In the past, when you looked up at LED, it blinded you. With Cree, people seem to really like the light level, and has a comfortable shopping experience. Even at night, it’s really impressive.”
The Langdon location set a trend for Buy-Low Foods. They upgraded the Buy-Low Foods in Clearwater and a Meinhardt Fine Foods with Cree LED lighting. Plus, they are looking to Cree for the next three Nesters Market stores in 2016.