The Good Ole Days at GE Lamp

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The rumors of a sale have been around since the days of Jack Welch, who earned a nickname that he despised, and we shall not dignify here. On Wednesday, 9 July, we published a headline on our left column “M&A Deal almost complete.” Today, we received a call from a former colleague who had two voice mails that GE Lighting “was about to be sold.” I spent most of the evening on the phone and did correspond with a few current employees. Turns out there is no “sold sign” yet, but publicly GE acknowledges that their Lighting Business is for sale.

For many of us who started our careers with GE, it is an especially sad day. Your humble editor began his career as a GE Large Lamp Salesman. As a naïve college senior, I was fortunate enough to be interviewed on campus by GE. In preparing for the interview, I called my mother to tell her I would be interviewing with Matt Thompson from the “Large Lamp” Department. Not understanding anything about C& I sales, we both surmised that I would go door to door selling really big lamps…She agreed to be my first customer.

My regional manager was a gentleman by the name of Wally Holtzinger. Wally was old-school, but believed in the customer. He was not interested in reports or meetings, he believed in relationships and results. If powerpoint were around then, he would have hated it. Wally wrote letters sometimes as short as three sentences. One received a letter from Wally with very anxious emotions like one would receive an envelope from the IRS –could be the beginning of a very long audit, or an unexpected refund check.

In those days, we did not need a receipt for any meal under $25. One of my fellow rookies turned in an expense account with $24.99 for each breakfast, lunch and dinner for an entire week. Wally wrote him a one sentence letter that stated, “The ‘G’ in GE does not stand for ‘generous’ nor does it stand for ‘gouge’ and your expense account is grossly out of line.” He copied everyone in the region and that salesman was quickly sent home. To this day, if I err on my expense account, it is always in the favor of the company.

I called on GE Supply and the manager explained to me that when he died, he wanted to come back as a GE Lamp salesman. He took me to the parking lot and pointed to my brand new Chrysler LeBaron complete with vinyl top, a car that I ordered myself. He pointed to his car, a Dodge Aires. He needed a receipt for every expense. I had been with GE for three months; he had been with GE for 22 years.

Our industry is full of leaders from GE such as Neil Schrimsher at Cooper Lighting and Keith T.S. Ward of EYE Lighting. Some started their own companies like Wayne Hellman at Venture Lighting where GE was practically a farm club in the early days. Others retired from GE and offered their consulting services such as Ed Hammer who has dramatically improved technology at several companies since leaving GE. Others sold lamps for GE and now sale fixtures for Acuity Brands such as San Dodgen. Still others like Al Meredith used their technical skills at both GE and Juno.

GE invented the incandescent lamp and the CFL and many in between.

What will happen? The employees we spoke to said obviously they expect the brand to stay. How does one come up with a price for the GE monogram? When GE sold their appliance business to Thomson in the 80’s, Thomson was allowed to continue selling under the GE brand. Look for a similar deal with lighting. Will Nela Park go away? No one knows. Will Hendersonville stay or be sold separate? Only time will tell.

If Wally were still around, I am sure he would be very sad, too.

If you have stories which you would like to share send them to me at editor@edisonreport.net