Cree LED Lighting to Reduce Energy Consumption at Mt. Pleasant Walmart Neighborhood Market
DURHAM, NC -- As part of a continued focus on sustainability, the nation’s largest retailer has selected energy-efficient LED lighting by Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) to illuminate the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Mt. Pleasant, WI. Cree® interior lighting products, including more than 400 CS18™ LED linear luminaires, will fully illuminate the Neighborhood Market – from the sales floor and pharmacy to restrooms, vestibules and backroom areas. Cree Lighting will install LED parking lot lighting and to the exterior areas.
Walmart estimates that the CS18 luminaires, designed for low maintenance and long life, will save approximately 30 percent in energy costs compared to interior fluorescent lighting. Cree interior and exterior lighting fixtures offer an industry-leading long service life and are backed by a 10-year limited warranty. This substantial product lifetime enables significant maintenance reductions and energy savings for the Neighborhood Market.
Recently ranked fifth on the 2012 Newsweek rankings for greenest U.S. retailers, Walmart’s deployment of Cree LED lighting will help the company achieve its sustainability goals: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain people and the environment. According to Walmart, the retailer used enough renewable energy last year to power 78,000 homes and is keeping 80 percent of its U.S. waste out of landfills.
The high-efficiency CS18 suspended LED linear luminaire uses approximately 30 percent less energy and lasts over three times longer than standard fluorescents. The CS18 luminaire will bring an extraordinary combination of performance, aesthetics and optimal light distribution to the sales floor of the Mt. Pleasant Walmart Neighborhood Market.
“Cree LED lighting will help us advance our sustainability goals while reducing the cost of operations and also giving our customers a pleasant shopping experience,” said David Redfield, senior vice president for Walmart operations. “Reducing energy consumption is the right thing to do for our natural environment, for our customers and for our business. Ultimately, the cost savings allows us to deliver on our commitment to Everyday Low Price.”
“Cree has a long-standing relationship with Walmart and the continued deployment of energy-efficient lighting further establishes LEDs as the superior lighting option for retailers everywhere,” said Christopher Ruud, Cree vice president, global sales, lighting. “The Mt. Pleasant location will be a great showcase of the benefits of LED lighting for the full customer experience – from the parking lot to the aisles. We’re proud to support the new Neighborhood Market right in our own backyard.”
About Cree
Cree is leading the LED lighting revolution and making energy-wasting traditional lighting technologies obsolete through the use of energy-efficient, mercury-free LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor products for power and radio-frequency (RF) applications.
Cree’s product families include LED fixtures and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and RF devices. Cree products are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, electronic signs and signals, power supplies and solar inverters.
For additional product and company information, please refer to www.Cree.com/Lighting. To learn more about the LED Lighting Revolution, please visit www.creeledrevolution.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, including the risk that Walmart’s plans may change resulting in lower product sales; actual savings will vary from expectations; customer acceptance of LED products; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render Cree’s products obsolete; and other factors discussed in Cree’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 24, 2012, and subsequent filings.