Lighting Week

Whitmer’s is offering 20% off its amazing 13,000 square-feet of indoor and outdoor lighting.

By: Mimi Vanderhaven
Date: 03/27/2010
So Dale Smerglia and Chad Whitmer are sitting in a manufacturer’s seminar about the latest trends in LED lighting technology when the lighting guys from the home improvement centers....oh, wait. My mistake. The guys from the home improvement stores weren’t there.

Why would they be? Do they really need to know about lighting? Or do they just have to move budget priced merchandise out the door as fast as they can.

If you want expert help—and competitive prices—your best bet may be to visit Whitmer’s Lighting, in Akron, where owner Dale, Chad and the rest of the staff are waiting to help.

“We have more than 100 years of combined experience,” Chad says. “That’s where we really stand out from the big box stores.

When you come in here there is somebody who can actually help you.”

And now may the best time to visit.

That’s because now through April 11, Whitmer’s is hosting a special one-time Lighting Week event. Bring in the gift certificate accompanying this article and Whitmer’s will knock 20 percent off your complete order.

“This is the perfect time to replace all of your tired, worn out lighting inside and outside of your home,” Dale suggests. “Spring is one of our busiest times of the year. It’s a time for cleaning up and making a fresh start.
People who have been cooped up all winter are getting outside and noticing how bad their outdoor lights are looking. We’re offering a huge opportunity to make your home look brilliant, and to save a lot of money while you do it.”

Lighting Week—now through April 11—is actually closer to two weeks. The event will highlight the massive selection of indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, lamps, ceiling fans and accessories at Whitmer’s fabulous 13,000 square foot showroom—the largest in Northeast Ohio.

“We have double the outdoor lighting selection that you’ll find in the big box stores, and overall, we probably have four to six times their selection,” Dale says. “Because of our buying power, our prices are very competitive.
And when you knock off an additional 20 percent, you may never have another opportunity like this.”

Whitmer’s features top brands like Kichler, whose world headquarters is located right in Independence, and Hinkley, another Ohio-based company. Other top brands include Maxim and Quoizel along with top ceiling fan manufacturers like Emerson, Craftmade, Casablanca and Kichler.

The big box stores and home improvement centers may boast that they carry some of the same leading brands as Whitmer’s.

That doesn’t mean they carry the same products.

“Manufacturers make two different quality lines,” Dale explains. “We carry showroom quality lighting supplies.
They’re made to different specifications than what you’ll find at the big box stores. Here, the castings are heavier. The glass is heavier. The sockets are porcelain instead of plastic. Even our budget lighting is a much higher quality than their budget lighting.”

Often you’ll have plastic instead of porcelain.

“Generally, plastic sockets are rated for 60 watt bulbs, rather than 100 watts for a porcelain socket,” he says.
“That’s a big difference in light.”

The difference in quality of Whitmer’s products can be experienced even in a product as simple as a light bulb.

“All bulbs are not the same,” Dale explains. “Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) are an excellent example. People come in here and say ‘I hate those things. They give off terrible light. I can’t see.’ Then they try one of ours and the next thing you know they are switching out everything in their house, because it’s a totally different bulb. It’s made to totally different specifications compared to what they carry in the big box stores. The components that go into them are different, so in turn the light that comes out of them is different.”

Shopping at Whitmer’s showroom is a bright idea.

As opposed to trying to select lighting fixtures from a picture on your computer screen, showroom buying lets you see exactly what you’re going to install into your home.

“When you order online, you don’t get to see the real product,” Dale says. “How do you know what the color is going to look like from a photo on your computer monitor?”

And what happens when UPS delivers a fixture that is broken, has missing pieces or isn’t what you ordered?

“Things happen,” Dale says. “Even with us you can have a problem or a mistake once in a while. But we’re here to make it right. When you have an issue with an Internet order, you have to pack it back up, ship it back at your own expense and hope that three weeks later when you get the replacement it isn’t as bad as the first one.”

And if you buy a light fixture from Whitmer’s then decide after it’s installed that it isn’t quite what you had in mind?

“I am going to work with you,” Dale says. “We’ll figure something out. When you buy online, you’re pretty much stuck.”

If you need help planning your indoor or outdoor lighting, Chad and Dale will be happy to drop by and work with you. Ask the part-time clerk at the home improvement store to do that and see what happens.

“Chad and I design a lot of landscape lighting,” Dale says. “We physically do a layout of path lighting, and accent lighting and we do the quote and the installation and everything.”

And when you buy landscape lighting from Whitmer’s, you’re not getting the do-it-yourself kits with path lights and a transformer.

“We do landscape lighting as opposed to landscape lights,” Dale says. “Our landscape lighting is custom designed.”

Whitmer’s Lighting Week celebration ends April 11.

Whitmer’s Lighting is located at 3900 W. Market Street in Montrose Centre Plaza near Jared’s in Fairlawn. Store hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; and Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m. Call 330-666-LITE, 800-391-2734, or visit www.whitmerslighting.com.

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