Beginning with its first store in 1936, Stater Bros. has a very long history. To deepen its commitment to reducing energy usage, Stater Bros. retrofit the frozen-food cases in nearly all of its 166 stores with GE’s LED refrigerated display lighting. The switch from fluorescent lights to GE’s Immersion™ RV40 LED system translates to total annual energy and maintenance savings of approximately $570,000.

Stater Bros. first met with strategic sourcing partner TopSource, LLC to pursue energy-efficient opportunities in its lighting portfolio. After evaluating lighting options from five different manufacturers, Stater Bros.’ retail marketing team chose GE’s 17-watt Immersion RV40 LED lighting systems to replace the 60-watt fluorescent fixtures in freezer cases. With installation crews completing 20 Stater Bros. stores per week, all 15,000 freezer doors were retrofitted in about 10 weeks—with very favorable results.

“We’ve received great feedback from customers and store managers,” said Scott Limbacher, vice president, Construction/Maintenance at Stater Bros. “Our managers tell us the new lighting really makes their products pop.”

Energy-saving Immersion RV40 LED lighting helps retailers like Stater Bros. slash the operating cost of refrigerated displays while enhancing the visual appeal of vertical cases. By replacing 60-watt fluorescent lamps with GE’s 17-watt LED lighting, Stater Bros. will use 28,444 fewer kilowatt hours (kWh) per store per year, a savings of approximately 4.6 million kWh across the 163 participating stores and equating to about $510,000 in annual savings (based on an $0.11 kWh rate and 17 hours of operation a day).

The long-life Immersion RV40 LED lighting system also contributes to an 80 percent reduction in maintenance costs—totaling nearly $60,000 in savings annually across all locations for Stater Bros. As an extra benefit, LED lighting generates less heat, which translates to fewer compressor cycles in the food cases for additional indirect energy savings.

The switch to LED retail lighting was not the supermarket chain’s first effort to adopt environmentally sensitive practices. Stater Bros.’ tradition of stewardship includes solid waste landfill diversion, daylight harvesting with skylights, and the use of high-efficiency motors in heating and cooling systems.

“If it’s the right thing to do, then Stater Bros. will do it at all its stores,” said Limbacher. “Our corporate leadership emphasizes doing the right thing for the right reasons.”