First Showroom Member Forum Lauded as a Resounding Success

The ALA hosted its first-ever member forum, a virtual meeting between ALA members on the topic of reimagining your lighting business to engage and inspire, presented by Matt Rowan, vice president, residential lighting & marketing, ASID, LS, of Dominion Lighting in Virginia.

Rowan took attendees on a virtual step-by-step journey that recounted how the 84-year-old electrical supply company successfully established a unique, higher-end lighting showroom business. 

Nearly 100 members attended or watched the replay of the presentation, with many participating in the 30-minute live discussion afterwards. And more are viewing the recorded version every day. 

Among the topics Rowan covered were:

- How to establish a “brand” or identity for your showroom and create a cohesive customer experience through touchpoints both in-store and online
- How to analyze your customer demographic into separate personas that can be targeted based on their preferences
- The key areas that have been instrumental to Dominion Lighting’s success and how to recreate them in your business
- Examples of how to partner with organizations in your local community
- Tips on how to combat online shopping  

In the discussion portion of the forum, Rowan answered members’ questions regarding how to clearance old product; how to find quality staff; how to stay on top of trends; merchandising advice; whether having physical catalogs are important to customers; and how much information should be provided on a hangtag, among other topics. Feedback from ALA members about the forum was universally enthusiastic.  

“The forum was very professional and extremely informative,” noted Diane Lombardo of Newton Electrical Supply in Massachusetts. “Having a ‘before and after’ visual of his showroom really helped me understand the changes he made. I appreciated his transparency on how he manages his showroom and I have shared the Forum with other employees, as I hope to implement some of his ideas.”

“This was a great forum. I love hearing ALA members talking about what works for them in their showrooms,” said Ben Parra of Lights Fantastic in Texas. “The more we (the lighting industry) collaborate, the better we are. I applaud what ALA is doing. They are trying to be even more accessible to our lighting community and I think that is great.”

“ I found the Forum to be extremely helpful. Collaboration by showrooms across the country is extremely valuable.  We are all going through similar challenges while trying to find the best way to give our clients an enjoyable experience. Lighting isn’t simply a commodity if it’s executed correctly. ALA allows for these collaborative conversations, and I highly recommend showrooms to participate in the forums to elevate their knowledge base,” stated Drew Mihelish of Western Montana Lighting.

“I  thought the ALA member forum was great,” added Emma Harger-Young of Progressive Lighting in Georgia. “As someone on the marketing side of things, I’m always interested in learning more about other facets of the lighting business, such as merchandising and recruiting. The member forum brought me new ideas that I am excited to incorporate into our content.”

ALA will be hosting member forums regularly throughout the year. As of 2024, all webinars and member forums are free and will be recorded for convenient playback. If you would like to see the recent showroom member forum, log in to your ALA account and click on the “Free Training Library” under the “Professional Education” tab.  And don’t forget to check the ALA website for details on upcoming sessions.