David Shiller

  During the Summer of 2023 back-to-school season, Walmart piloted sensory-friendly store hours, each Saturday from 8am-10am. During these hours, Walmart stores turned down the lights where possible, put a static image on the TV walls, and turned off the radio. Walmart received overwhelmingly positive responses. As a result, Walmart has now designated 8am-10am every [...]

  China’s near monopoly on rare earth metals production is diminishing, but still dominant. China’s market share of rare earth production has dropped from 97% a decade ago, to 70% in 2022. Rare earth minerals are critical to many important climate action technologies including magnets for renewable energy generation such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, [...]

  In 2020, I authored an article in LEDs Magazine alerting the industry to the misleading claims of all emergency TLED manufacturers (at that time), that their products were UL listed. Until now, all of the emergency TLED makers were getting emergency TLEDs UL listed as basic retrofit lamps under UL1598C (Type B), but they [...]

  The World Bank forecasted that 5.2% annual growth for China in 2023 will slow to 4.5% in 2024, and down to 4.3% in 2025. China’s growth has fluctuated dramatically in recent years, ranged from 2.2% in 2020 to 8.4% in 2021 and 3% in 2022. China’s economy is feeling the drag following severe pandemic [...]

  Here is a quick summary of 6 acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2023: SpecGrade LED was acquired by LED Lighting, LLC. Details here. PE firm acquiring Progress Lighting. Details here. Hess GmbH acquired by Ragni Group. Details here. Fonroche Lighting acquired NoWatt Lighting. Details here.Eurofase Announces Strategic Private Equity Investment. Details here. Acuity [...]

  A different kind of lighting show has been quietly growing. Lightapalooza will be holding its 3rd annual conference & trade show, February 26-29, 2024, at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel & Spa, in Glendale, AZ. The event is organized by the Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA), a national association of specialty retailers and [...]

  Shoplight, a British manufacturer specializing in retail and hospitality lighting, launched a line of 3D-printed bioplastic downlights called Colt Bio. The plant-based polymer downlight housings are upgradable and achieve circular economy principles. The black, white, and grey color options are made from Greentech Pro bioplastic, while the Silk color is made from Non Oilen [...]

  Donald Trump has recently announced a significant shift in his stance on daylight saving time (DST). In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that the Republican Party would work to eliminate DST, calling it “inconvenient and very costly to our Nation”. This marks a stark reversal from his 2019 position when he expressed [...]

Recreational marijuana was legalized in Ohio by a ballot measure that passed on the November 7 election, with 57% of the vote. More info here. The measure, known as Issue 2, allows adults 21 and over to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow up to six plants at home. Ohio’s passage of [...]