GE Albeo LED Lighting Illuminates Natural Grocers’ Distribution Center and Retail Stores

With a mission to support the environment, it is only natural for Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage to incorporate all-LED lighting in its distribution center and new grocery stores.

The company installed GE’s Albeo™ linear lighting fixtures and LED high bay lighting fixtures—chosen for their energy efficiency, ease of installation and customizable configurations.

The LED lighting is expected to reduce Natural Grocers’ energy usage by more than 1.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh) across 40 locations and its distribution center, saving the natural and organic food and product retailer nearly $193,000 each year.

“Using LED lighting saves energy and reduces maintenance and recycling needs, allowing us to focus on what we care about—offering the best to our customers while reducing our impact on the environment,” said Kevin Stees, construction project manager for Natural Grocers.

The energy-efficient LED linear lighting provides a high lumen output and has a high color rendering index (CRI) of 90+ that helps enhance the visual appeal of fresh produce, prepared foods and other merchandise.

GE customized the mounting scheme by configuring different lengths of the Albeo ALC3-Series LED lighting fixtures to fit a variety of store formats and lighting layouts. Additionally, Albeo products contain ‘plug-and-play’ features that simplify electrical needs, help reduce contractor labor costs, and speed up the overall lighting system installation.

At the distribution center, Natural Grocers replaced metal halides with 157-watt Albeo ABHX-Series LED high bay lighting fixtures with motion controls, providing a 93 percent energy savings and reducing overall maintenance needs. The ABHX-Series’ life is rated for 100,000 hours at L70, or 70 percent of the initial light output, compared to HID, which can burn out after 20,000 hours.