Cree has announced that more than 80,000 Cree LRP-38 spotlights will highlight merchandise in hundreds of The Furniture Row Companies retail stores nationwide.

The Furniture Row Companies, one of the nation’s largest family-owned specialty home furnishings and bedding retailers, is installing Cree LED lighting throughout its 330 Sofa Mart®, Oak Express®, Bedroom Expressions® and Denver Mattress Company® specialty furniture stores across the United States. To-date, nearly 13,000 Cree LRP-38 LED spotlights have been installed, out of more than 80,000 planned. The 11-Watt Cree LED lights are replacing energy-wasting 90-Watt halogen bulbs. Rod Schnurr, Furniture Row store planning coordinator, said they conducted an exhaustive test of other LED spotlights, but selected Cree’s LRP-38 because of its superior lighting.

“We knew we wanted new lighting that addressed our goal of being environmental stewards, but we also wanted to remain fiscally responsible,” said Schnurr. “We also knew that we couldn’t sacrifice the high quality of light needed to accentuate the wood grains and highlight the beauty of the fabrics – that’s what these Cree lights do.”

The first Furniture Row Shopping Center to install Cree LED lights saved $4,200 on monthly energy costs compared to the original lighting, Schnurr said. In addition to reduced energy consumption for lighting, the LRP-38 spotlights generate much lower heat output thereby saving on air conditioning costs. Furniture Row also anticipates significant maintenance savings given the much longer service life of the LED lights, which are designed for a 50,000-hour lifetime in open applications. Prior to the LED lighting upgrade, store employees spent an estimated 15 hours per week replacing burned out halogen bulbs.