OSRAM SYLVANIA - Sports Authority

THE SPORTS AUTHORITY SAVES ON ENERGY AND MAINTENANCE COSTS WITH LIGHTING RETROFIT

THE SITUATION:

As the largest sporting goods retailer in the country, The Sports Authority needed a lighting program that would reduce operating costs while improving the in-store lighting quality. Prior to a recent lighting make-over by SYLVANIA LIGHTING SERVICES, a Sports Authority store in Clifton, N.J. used (240) 400-watt metal halide lamps to light a 43891 square foot facility. The average level of light on the sales floor was less than 45 foot-candles and lighting energy costs were upwards of $54,000 a year.

On August 4, 2003, The Sports Authority, Inc. and Gart Sports Company, the largest and second largest U.S. sporting goods retailers, respectively, completed a merger that created the nation's preeminent full-line sporting goods chain. The combined company, now known as The Sports Authority, Inc., is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.

The Sports Authority, Inc. operates approximately 385 stores in 45 U.S. states under The Sports Authority®, Gart Sports®, Sportmart® and Oshman's® names. At the time of its merger with Gart Sports Company, The Sports Authority was the largest full-line sporting goods retailer in the United States, and had 205 stores in 33 states. The Sports Authority enlisted the assistance of SYLVANIA LIGHTING SERVICES to survey their properties, starting with the Clifton, N.J. retail outlet, and provide a lighting program that would fulfill their need for an energy efficient and aesthetically pleasing retail space.

THE SOLUTION:

Using advanced photometric software called AGI32, representatives from SLS digitally replicated the entire store environment of the Clifton, N.J. location. Based on this digital replication, it was determined that 4-lamp (T5) High Output fixtures would best serve the store’s needs.

“The move to a T5 fixture using SYLVANIA PENTRON® lamps gives a lot more punch in terms of brightness,” said Dennis Wilson, executive account representative, SYLVANIA LIGHTING SERVICES. “It creates a really nice, bright store plus the energy savings is enormous. The reduction is over 200-watts per fixture.”

SYLVANIA LIGHTING SERVICES removed the 240 HID fixtures from The Sports Authority location and installed 261 4-lamp T5 PENTRON fixtures.

“Some of the benefits of a T5 system with a lens over an HID System include less glare, an even distribution of lighting, better lumen maintenance, and substantial energy savings,” said Flip Louisot, National Construction Manager for SYLVANIA LIGHTING SERVICES. “We added fixtures so we could distribute light more efficiently, and because the T5 fixtures offer greater efficacy, the overall store wattage was significantly reduced.”

Before the retrofit, light levels at the Clifton Sports Authority location were between 35 and 60 footcandles. After the HID fixtures were replaced with 4-lamp T5 fixtures light readings read between 75 and 85 fc throughout the store.

The payback period for the location in Clifton New Jersey was 1.65 Years. As a result of the retrofit in Clifton and 7 other test stores, SYLVANIA LIGHTING SERVICES will be installing over 20,000 T5 PENTRON fixtures in 90 + Sports Authority locations during 2005.

“Our lighting retrofit paralleled store remodels, which included significant changes to merchandise fixturing. We created three different lighting options to align the most cost-effective lighting design to individual store's needs,” said Jackie Hokuf, director of facilities for The Sports Authority. “We established standards for light levels for our new store layout and we worked with SYLVANIA to determine the least-cost design to meet those standards.”