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Spotlight
on Fine Vintages
Lightolier's Alcyon track line chosen to light
new upscale wine shop
in Englewood, New Jersey
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Bergen County,
New Jersey did not have a dedicated wine shop until the Englewood Wine Merchants
store opened in May 2005. Before that, locals seeking specialty wine selection
and information usually had to travel all the way into Manhattan. Co-owners
David Gettenberg and Andrew Wellisch saw an opportunity and seized it, purchasing
a retail space on East Palisade Avenue in Englewood and planning the design
and store layout of what they hope will become the premier wine store in
Bergen County. Rather than stocking thousands of different wines, Gettenberg
and Wellisch intend to help customers select the best choices from different
regions. In addition to the retail displays, they created eight tasting
stations featuring wines from different countries every week.
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The main room in the new store is about 15 feet wide and just under 60 feet
long, with ten-foot dark ceilings and natural Travertine stone on the floor,
and all-walnut cabinetry. Sunlight doesn't penetrate deeply into the room
even in broad daylight, and since much of the room - including the product
- is darkly colored, he knew lighting the space adequately and attractively
would be a challenge. “Light is absorbed very easily in this space,”
Gettenberg said.
He sought to find lighting that would suit the room, directly highlighting
the labels on the wine bottles while fitting with the design and not distracting
customers. He decided early on in favor of track lighting, which had already
been installed in the space by a previous tenant. However, he found the
existing fixtures to be large, cumbersome, and ill suited to his design
ideals. “We've created a wine cellar look in the store, and we wanted
to go with fixtures that were sleek, contemporary, and not ‘in your
face,'” he said.
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Gettenberg was already familiar with the Lightolier name and reputation
for providing high-quality track lighting fixtures and accessories, but
didn't know a great deal about lighting and design options available. He
contacted Ken Mackenzie , Vice President and General Manager of Lightolier's
Track Lighting Business Unit. “He acted as our lighting consultant,”
said Gettenberg of Mackenzie. |
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Mackenzie studied
photographs of the space in order to make suitable product recommendations.
“It's a high-end wine dealership, and they wanted to achieve a very
professional and ‘open' look,” he said. He knew that, because
of the depth of the retail space and dark color of the ceiling and cabinetry,
the space would require high-intensity white light that could be focused
accurately on the wine displays and tasting stations. “I recommended
low-voltage MR16 lamps, which are perfect for this application because they
are very bright, very white and intense, and they fit in small track fixtures
that won't detract from the overall design.”
Mackenzie showed Gettenberg a variety of Lightolier track products and Gettenberg
decided that Alcyon
was the best fit. “Among other things, we really liked how Alcyon
looked,” said Gettenberg. He was particularly impressed with the small,
unobtrusive transformer case, which rides low along the track, and the slim
wireless stem that provides the illusion of a floating head of light. “Alcyon
is very much in line with the design themes in our store,” he said.
“I didn't want anything that would detract from the design and product
displays. Good light fixtures are something you should never notice unless
you're looking at them specifically.” Alcyon
fixtures are also highly adjustable, a factor which Gettenberg knew to be
important in a dynamic and evolving retail space. Additionally, it is easy
to change burned-out lamps because of Alcyon's lamp-forward design, which
places the front of the lamp ahead of the fixture case.
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Gettenberg selected matte black low voltage Cylinder fixtures to blend
with the dark ceiling and provide non-obtrusive but focused light to illuminate
the wine displays.
He also opted for the Advent™ two-circuit track, which offers separate
controls for each track head so that different fixtures may be turned on
or off at a given time. He is very pleased with the feedback he has received
thus far. “I love that we were able to keep the wine cellar aesthetic
without sacrificing visibility,” he said.
Liz Washer
van Schouwen Associates |
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About Englewood
Wine Merchants
Englewood Wine Merchants is an upscale wine store featuring wines from
all over the world, with designated tasting stations and opportunities
for patrons to learn more about wine selection and enjoyment. Englewood
Wine Merchants is located at 3 East Palisade Avenue in Englewood, New
Jersey, and can be reached at 201-568-8820, or visit www.englewoodwinemerchants.com.
About Lightolier
Headquartered in Fall River, Massachusetts, Lightolier, for over 100 years,
has provided creative lighting solutions for commercial, institutional,
and residential lighting needs. Lightolier is on the World Wide Web at
www.lightolier.com . Lightolier is a Division of The Genlyte Group Incorporated,
(NASDAQ: GLYT). The Genlyte Group Incorporated is the largest lighting
company in North America dedicated exclusively to the design, manufacture
and marketing of lighting fixtures and controls. The Genlyte Group Incorporated
brands include Bronzelite, Capri, Canlyte, Chloride Systems, Crescent,
Day-Brite, Entertainment Technology, ExceLine, Forecast, Gardco, Hadco,
Ledalite, Lightolier, Lightolier Controls, Lumec, Lumec-Schreder, Omega,
Shakespeare Composite Structures, Stonco, Thomas Lighting, Translite Sonoma,
USS Manufacturing, Vari-Lite and Wide-Lite. |
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