For over 20 years, CAST Lighting has been providing the highest quality landscape lighting in the marketplace. CAST enjoys an extremely loyal customer base because of beauty, innovation, durability, quality products, and service. This loyalty is not merely confined to the end-users. Design professionals all over the world prefer CAST Lighting for their most discriminating clients. In this edition of the CAST Lighting Blog, we will learn from some of these specifiers what makes CAST just so special and answer the question, why CAST?
Charlie Sowers is part of the Tennessee Lighting Sales Group, a full-service commercial lighting agency. Charlie has been specifying CAST products for several years now. TLS has 3 regional offices servicing most of Tennessee and Northern Georgia with an extensive offering of the industry’s top lighting companies. CAST is one of only a few landscape lighting manufacturers TLS represents and there are many reasons why they prefer CAST.
Charlie comments, “We came by way of CAST when the local Regional Manager—Greg Schramer, introduced the line to our company. For starters, Greg is a great rep to us. Very knowledgeable and very attentive to our company.” What really caught Charlie’s eye was that “CAST is a fantastic product. It’s durable, develops a great patina, and really blends into the landscape.” “I have a good outlet for the high-end residential market. We have installed projects for clients that exceed $40,000 in CAST products.” “With that said, low voltage landscape lighting is sometimes the most inexpensive solution. With CAST, we can value-engineer a project to satisfy the client’s requirements and meet their budget.”
Charlie landed in Nashville several years ago with hopes of entering the music industry. Six years ago, after a stint in the concrete business and working for an electrical distributor, Charlie made the jump to lighting. One of his most memorable projects involved in-grade marker lights for a hotel client. “Unfortunately, the manufacturer provided a residential grade product that did not hold up to the heavy vehicle traffic at the hotel. The drivers in 30 lights failed.” “The client was not happy, but our company took care of the issue. When your company specs a project, you need to stand behind your work. And we did.”
Art Neuman is a Registered Landscape Architect in the State of Florida. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, Art worked for a land planning firm in Florida. Fifteen years ago, he ventured out on his own and is now the principal of his own LA firm.
“I am a very hands-on designer. I work directly with the client, and I am involved in all aspects of the project.” Art says, “My main market is high-end residential clients in and around Naples, FL. I have done some very large residential projects using CAST Lighting and I have also done some commercial projects with developers.”
Art comments, “I began using CAST products in 2011. Doug Kenney from Kenney Outdoor Solutions got me started with CAST, and Doug is a tremendous resource for me. I have found CAST to be a solid and reliable product. I began by using the Bullet Lights and then eventually added Path Lights to the mix. I know that CAST is a very good product with a great warranty. As a small business, ‘callbacks’ can kill you. I don’t have that worry with CAST.”
In addition to the landscape lighting products, Art says that “CAST has done an excellent job with their online resources. The LED System Calculator is a great tool because I am so hands-on and I enjoy working through the design process, having a tool such as the online calculator helps me greatly.”
“CAST is a very good product. I like the integrated products as well as the adjustable products. I have started using more of the SOURCE line by CAST, and the adjustability is fantastic. I like being able to ‘fine tune’ the settings as do the homeowners. There are a lot of variables in the field, and the adjustability is a great help.”
Chris Halliday is one of the principals at Halliday Architects, located in Ocean City, NJ. Chris is partners with his wife, Shannon, and their firm has been practicing in the above area for the past 8 years. Prior to that, Chris and Shannon worked in Santa Barbara, CA where they worked on residential and commercial projects.
Chris says, “Eight years ago we decided to come back east and establish our firm in Ocean City. We are a boutique design firm, specializing in coastal single-family homes. We cover from Brigantine, NJ down to Cape May. Annually we work on approximately eighty projects.”
“We started using CAST Landscape products about 5 years ago. Our local sales manager, Jeff Hesser, introduced us to the line. I really liked the aesthetics and the durability of the products. But beyond the products, CAST delivers a really great team for us. CRL is our rep agency, and we have a great relationship with them. From CRL to Jeff, to installer Mike Cresci, it’s a complete team. We can offer our clients everything from concept to completion with CAST Lighting.”
“One of the most interesting CAST projects we worked on was when we were able to locate CAST lights into a glass rail project. As a designer, we are always trying to balance the client’s needs versus the codes as well as the budget. The CAST team helps us and is easy to work with.”
These three testimonies truly prove why CAST is of the highest quality for landscape lighting. Through this, it is our hope that we can provide our products, services, and innovation to complete any project you may have!
