Lighting Industry Leader Eugene Sherizen Retires After 34 Years

We just sent out the following press release to local media to share the bittersweet news about our founder's well deserved retirement from the lighting industry. We wanted to share it here as well.

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After a 34-year career that began with selling light bulbs out of his truck from a suburb of Detroit, Eugene Sherizen has retired from the lighting industry. He leaves his former company, Lighting Supply, in good hands under new leadership, and in partnership with neighboring Galco Industrial Electronics.

Learning early on how to find good deals on basic lighting supplies and connect with those who needed his handful of products, Sherizen was able to build his company to over 50 employees selling thousands of SKUs to more than 100,000 customers nationwide.

Lighting Supply, now based in Ferndale, MI, came to be known not only for carrying the latest lighting products, but also for carrying those that were hard to find elsewhere. It also never faltered from Sherizen’s core principle of superior customer care.

“Building Lighting Supply has been one of my life’s greatest accomplishments and joys,” said Sherizen. “I made some mistakes and hit some obstacles along the way, but I cannot express how proud I am of the company today.”

Through the years, Sherizen experienced many different stages of lighting including free and subsidized replacement light bulbs, the rise and now fall of CFL lighting, the phasing out of popular incandescent bulbs, and today’s surge in LED lighting. He’s supplied millions of bulbs, fixtures, and related products to customers across the country.

“It’s astonishing how much he knows about lighting and, even more so, how many people he knows in the industry,” said Chris Hall, the company’s new president and CEO. “His expertise and commitment to both his employees and customers will be missed. But he’s earned this retirement and we’re excited to carry on his legacy. We wish him the very best.”

Although Sherizen is moving on to other things, his impact in lighting will be felt by many in the coming years, even if they don’t know it. After all, his company sold products to companies of every size and to countless homes as well. So the next time you turn on a light, you may well be turning on one that shipped from Lighting Supply.