Albeo Technologies Inc., an award winning LED lighting manufacturer, announces that Natural Grocers’ new stores in Longmont CO, Dallas TX, and Cheyenne WY will be entirely lit with Albeo’s NGL award winning C-Series LED lighting. Natural Grocers is a Colorado-owned independent natural grocery chain. Their commitment to sustainability now extends to becoming the first grocery store chain in the U.S. to feature all-LED lighting in their newest expansion sites. Building stores that demonstrate sustainable solutions and educate local communities is a driving force behind Natural Grocers’ decision to use the most efficient and longest lasting lighting available.

Grocery store lighting is critical for customer engagement and is integral to successful operation. Grocery stores and super markets require high light levels and high color rendering to provide accurate product recognition. On the operations side, light bulb maintenance and recycling is costly and lighting is the store’s second largest energy consumption category at 23%. Using Albeo’s award winning C-Series LED lighting, Natural Grocers has met all light quality requirements, saved over 50% on electrical energy and eliminated bulb maintenance.

The new stores use Albeo’s C-Series linear SSL system to provide light levels greater than 50 foot-candles throughout the customer shopping area while Albeo’s T8LED Troffer provided lighting in the back offices. In the loading areas, Albeo’s intelligent fixtures with integrated motion detection delivered even greater energy savings.    Natural Grocers chose 4200 Kelvin correlated color temperature light with a CRI (color rendering index) of 92 – ideal for displaying food products.

"Using LED in our new stores, rather than fluorescent and incandescent lighting saves energy and the life expectancy of the LED lighting is 4 – 6 times longer than fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, significantly reducing the impact on the environment. Albeo’s lights are intrinsically food safe and emit no UV light. We have a serious commitment to being environmentally responsible that we have demonstrated for over 55-years. Upgrading the lighting of our new stores to LED is a visible way to fulfill our commitment with the latest technological innovation." said Kevin Stees, Construction Project Manager for Natural Grocers.

“We are proud to be the LED lighting supplier to the Natural Grocer by Vitamin Cottage.” said Neil Cannon EVP of Business Development for Albeo. “With LM79 and in-situ temperature testing the 70,000 hour projected lifetimes of our products enable Natural Grocers to extend their highly sustainable daily operations model.”

Stees adds, “With Albeo’s multiple awards, 5 year warranty, and history of large deployments, we were confident their solution would meet the needs of all our stores.”

About Albeo

Albeo Technologies, Inc. manufactures high quality, long-lasting LED lighting products for commercial and industrial facilities. Albeo has won 9 independently judged product and company awards including 4 from the US Department of Energy (DOE). Albeo’s C-Series, Surface Mount, and S-Series sealed fixtures are designed for general lighting applications and deliver illumination solutions that range from 3,000 to 25,000 lumens. Other products include T8LED Conversion Kits and Troffers for retail, office and school lighting, Atmosphere, Brilliance, and Talea LED Lighting solutions for cove, display, and task lighting, and SecurityLED fixtures for high-abuse applications such as transit, correctional, and institutional facilities.    Details for the entire product line are available on Albeo's website at www.albeotech.com.

About Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage

Since 1955, Colorado-based, family owned, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage has grown from the "Mom & Pop" grass-roots business started by Margaret & Phillip Isely, to a growing national chain with locations in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and soon Wyoming, employing over 1,100 employees to date and still run by their children and grandchildren. The original family goal to offer every day affordable prices is the foundation of their business, enabling everyone to afford the products necessary to maintain their own healthcare. Education and customer service is the cornerstone of Natural Grocers, as evidenced by their in-store nutritional support programs, Free Nutritional Coaches and Free public health and wellness seminars.

Natural Grocers provides over 25,000 organic and natural products, only 100% certified organic produce, body care products and one of the nation’s largest selections of vitamins, minerals and herbs, combined with a knowledgeable and trained staff. Visit www.naturalgrocers.com for more information and store locations.