Blain’s Farm & Fleet was founded in 1955 by brothers Claude and Bert Blain. Bert’s daughter, Jane Blain Gilbertson is the current CEO and President after working with the organization for over 30 years herself. The company now has 38 stores throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. Along with Blain Supply Inc. Located in Janesville, Wisconsin, the company employs over 4,000 people. The family-owned business was built and ran on strong Midwestern values, as it still does today.

When Blain’s started their expansion into the new Michigan locations, they took advantage of pre-existing commercial spaces that had been vacated. Deciding to keep the existing light poles and electrical systems in place, and choosing to retrofit using new efficient LED area lights, a solution was needed that provided Blain’s with better light coverage than before, while still offering a reduction in energy usage.

Manufacturer’s representative West Michigan Lighting presented Blain’s with the EverLast Lighting Encounter Series as a turnkey replacement to the outdated 400w metal halide lights the previous tenants had installed. The EverLast Encounter Series has multiple distribution types available and an impressive lumen to watt ratio, which provided Blain’s with an area light that not only ensured better coverage than had existed originally but also reduced energy usage while tripling the foot candle readings across the property. Blain’s decision to use EverLast’s (UARM) universal mounting bracket made single person installation of the lights possible, which cut installation costs and times down to a fraction of initial estimates, making opening the new store under a tight deadline a reality.

The Encounter Series area lights provided the Blain’s properties with an exceptional increase in light coverage and intensity. The massive reduction in energy consumption per unit allowed Blain’s to double their fixture count, while still reducing energy consumption by nearly 50%. And by ensuring that their parking areas were well lit, safety, security, and brand visibility were improved while reducing their maintenance costs thanks to the 10+ year life expectancy of the Encounter Series area lights.