The Furniture Row Companies Shine with Energy-Efficient Cree LED Lighting

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Furniture Row Companies, one of the nation’s largest family-owned specialty home furnishings and bedding retailers, is installing LED lighting from leading manufacturer, Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE), throughout its 330 Sofa Mart®, Oak Express®, Bedroom Expressions® and Denver Mattress Company® specialty furniture stores across the United States. To-date, nearly 13,000 Cree LRP-38™ LED spotlights have been installed, out of more than 80,000 planned. The 11-Watt Cree LED lights are replacing energy-wasting 90-Watt halogen bulbs. 

“We knew we wanted new lighting that addressed our goal of being environmental stewards, but we also wanted to remain fiscally responsible,” said Rod Schnurr, Furniture Row store planning coordinator. “We also knew that we couldn’t sacrifice the high quality of light needed to accentuate the wood grains and highlight the beauty of the fabrics – that’s what these Cree lights do.”

The first Furniture Row Shopping Center to install Cree LED lights saved $4,200 on monthly energy costs compared to the original lighting, Schnurr said. In addition to reduced energy consumption for lighting, the LRP-38 spotlights generate much lower heat output thereby saving on air conditioning costs. Furniture Row also anticipates significant maintenance savings given the much longer service life of the LED lights, which are designed for a 50,000-hour lifetime in open applications. Prior to the LED lighting upgrade, store employees spent an estimated 15 hours per week replacing burned out halogen bulbs.

“The LRP-38 spotlight is perfect for retail environments because it offers energy efficiency and longevity without compromising on the high quality light needed to properly illuminate merchandise,” said Craig Lofton, director of national accounts, Cree LED Lighting. “Lighting customers should sacrifice nothing in the pursuit of beautiful, energy-efficient light, and Furniture Row’s stores are exemplifying just that.”

About The Furniture Row Companies
The Furniture Row Companies make up one of the largest family-owned specialty home furnishings and bedding retailers operating over 330 stores in 31 states. For more information, please visit www.FurnitureRow.com.

Furniture Row also owns and is the primary sponsor of a NASCAR Sprint Cup team. For more information on the #78 Furniture Row Racing program visit www.FurnitureRowRacing.com.

About Cree
Cree is leading the LED lighting revolution and setting the stage to obsolete the incandescent light bulb through the use of energy-efficient, environmentally friendly LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting solutions, and semiconductor solutions for backlighting, wireless and power applications.

Cree’s product families include recessed LED down lights, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and radio-frequency/wireless devices. Cree solutions are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, electronic signs and signals, variable-speed motors, and wireless communications.

For additional product and company information, please refer to www.CreeLEDlighting.com. To learn more about the LED Lighting Revolution, please visit www.creeLEDrevolution.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, including the risk that Furniture Row’s plans may change resulting in lower product sales; the possibility that actual savings may vary from expectations; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render Cree’s products obsolete; and other factors discussed in Cree’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 27, 2010, and subsequent filings.

Cree is a registered trademark and LRP-38 is a trademark of Cree, Inc.