Dirty lamp? Clean it up with the Orbit one-light Contemporary Ceiling Light / Wall Sconce from Cal Lighting (Product Page: http://www.affordablelamps.com/cal-sl-954-1.html)! With choices like Yellow Amber Spot, Layer Amber Scale, Blood Red, Brushed Steel Cone, Rust Mesh, or Orange Swirl, you will think you are ordering an ice cream cone not a lamp. And don’t forget there are 19 more variations, making for a total of 95 different lamps, all at $33.00 or less. Lets’ see the Russians beat that, Tovarisch!

(What, the space race is over? Then let the lamp race begin!)

The best part of this job is being able to see the lights that we have sold in their final application. My thanks to David Stone of Hailey, Idaho, who has sent me this great photo of an old saloon in a mining town in Idaho. I can just see the caption now:
“Why, that lamp came from New York City!”
“New York City?  Get a rope!”
Oops, maybe not that caption, but all kidding aside, this is a dapper fixture indeed that will dude up any old cow town. Now saddle up partner and fetch me some bulbs. Times a wasting and I don’t want to miss happy hour.

You can email dave@svautoclub.com for directions and tour info

I write this blog with a heavy heart as one of the great character actors of our modern era passed away yesterday; Glenn Shadix. You may have known him as Otho from the Tim Burton classic Beetlejuice or you may also have known him as Jerry’s landlord on Seinfeld or of course Associate Bob in Demolition Man. He was a very pleasant person to talk with, not your typical Hollywood type at all, when I had the chance to meet him at a convention in Pasadena where I got his autograph for Demolition Man. What does this have to do with the Calipso Modern LED Desk Lamp (Product page: http://www.affordablelamps.com/ls-21099.html) you ask?  Well, when I think of Calypso, I think of Harry Belafonte which leads to Beetlejuice with the great dance sequence with Glenn, Dick Cavett, Jeff Jones, Robert Goulet and Wynona Ryder to the “Banana Boat Song.”

This Lite Source LED Desk Lamp measures 7″ wide by 12″ high, with a 4.5″ diameter base, and uses one 3W LED bulb, and looks a bit like the Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara) sculptures featured in the movie. It is an affordable LED lighting table lamp, in the $75.00 range.

Rest in peace, Glenn.

With the economy in the state it is and with economist’s talk of deflation, the lighting field seems to be going in the opposite direction; against the curve if you will. In a deflationary cycle, like nowadays, inventory exceeds demand forcing a drop in retail prices that can been seen with TV’s, stereos, computers, microwaves and other electronic goods. Since most people already have these goods, there remains far too many on the shelf and so, prices must fall.

However, the lighting industry is a different tale. Last year, at the end of phase one of the recession, most manufacturers had extra inventory on hand, which drove them to embark on a massive clearance of inventory in order to make way for new product. As a result of this, consumers gobbled up the deals with glee, and inventory was sold off. But new orders dwindled overseas and as result of this, many factories closed in China and Europe and so, new products and re-orders of current products were left without parts, glass or frames.

This led to back orders on a larger scale than anyone could anticipate. This hit Tiffany glass suppliers the worst, and as such, Quoizel, Meyda, and Dale Tiffany have had glass shortages that have extended long past their estimated arrival dates. Needless to say, if you were one of those customers waiting for a lamp that has been on back order for six months, you would be understandably upset, to say the least. You blame customer service or complain on a message board and call the company misleading. But the fact is, no one at the upper levels of supply saw this coming. We live in such an interconnected global economy that when one facet fails, it causes a river of problems (remember the housing crises?).

So in essence, light fixtures  are becoming collector items and when a fixture is discontinued from the manufacturer, consumers scramble to find it somewhere, anywhere to complete their lighting design. This is especially true with closeouts as these are drastically reduced in price and when one light sells out from a family of lamps, the others are not far behind. But once they are gone, they are history. Many of the suppliers have sufficient inventory, like Access and Lite Source and as well as others that are built in the USA like Hubbardton Forge, Lazarus Lighting Design and Arroyo Craftsman are made to order; so no shortages.

When in doubt call 1-800-MY–LAMPS and I will tell you what the deal is to the best of my ability. Remember, I am only as good as the information I am provided with.