Liverpool Stores

Liverpool stores in Mexico install the latest in MEGAMAN^®LED technology

With over 13,000 fittings provided by Paviom, containing MEGAMAN^® TECOH^® MHx LED modules, Mexico’s largest department store completed one of the largest LED retail lighting projects the country has seen to date.

Aeropostale Inc., a popular US specialty retailer of casual clothing for teenagers, announced plans back in July 2013 to launch the Aeropostale brand in Mexico. To facilitate the move of the US speciality retailer into Distribuidora Liverpool, S.A. de C.V., known as "Liverpool", the department store chain has refurbished its shop-in-shop’s to the latest in LED lamp technology.

The shop-in-shop refurbishments created a significant opportunity for Liverpool’s in-house design team to develop an interior scheme that reflects the vibrancy of the incoming US brand to its Mexican teenage consumers.

As long-term provider of lighting to Liverpool stores, Mexican lighting provider Lightmex was brought in to develop a possible lighting solution for the new interiors. Working alongside UK architectural lighting company Paviom, Ignacio Ashby Aranda, President of Lightmex and Ignacio Ashby Alatriste, CEO and Simon White, general manager at Paviom, created an LED lighting solution to fit the client’s brief for vibrant, energy efficient lighting.

To date, 24 double corner shops within shops and 8 boutiques have been opened and 6,000 Fittings with MEGAMAN^® TECOH^® MHx modules installed; once the full 13,000 fittings have been installed, Liverpool is expected to benefit from savings of €102,500 in energy and 450,965 Kg CO₂ per year^*.

LED versus metal halide store testing

Simon White explains the LED testing process with Liverpool stores: “We were invited by Lightmex to demonstrate the potential energy savings and effectiveness of LED lighting to their client, Liverpool stores. We decided to combine Paviom’s Domena F25343TK track lighting solution with MEGAMAN^®’s 24W R9 TECOH^® MHx LED modules, to achieve the vibrant, directional lighting that this scheme required. Following a demonstration of the lighting track to Eumir Salgado, Boutique division manager at Liverpool, we were asked to prepare a store mock-up to show the lighting in-situ.”

The store mock-up was carried out in Liverpool’s Mexico City store and included ten Paviom Domena fittings alongside existing metal halide lighting. Ignacio Ashby, Lightmex, continues: “We put the LED and metal halide fittings side by side. The items lit with MEGAMAN^®’s TECOH^® Generation 2 MHx 24W R9 (3000K/4000K) LED modules were significantly brighter than those lit by the existing 35W metal halide lighting. In fact, the new LED lighting actually made the clothing lit by the metal halides look drab by comparison. I think we were all surprised by the difference and within a matter of minutes, the team from Liverpool stores had decided that the light quality of the LEDs was worth the investment.”

Choice of R9 LED modules

MEGAMAN^® TECOH^® Generation 2 MHx R9 LED modules have a high colour rendition value of R9 (≥ 76), as well as high values for regular CRI of 94 and other ‘saturated’ colours R10 and R14. This mix ensures a well-balanced, high quality light that is perfect for display lighting applications where a sense of freshness and richness is required.

Simon White comments: “Paviom is known for providing good quality, reasonably priced fixtures. By incorporating the MEGAMAN^® TECOH^® MHx modules into our Domena fitting, we have helped Lightmex to deliver a display lighting solution that offers excellent ‘light where you want it’, whilst making the most of the energy efficient benefits that LED lamp technology offers.”

With plans to open further shop-in-shops throughout the Liverpool stores chain across Mexico, the cost and CO₂ savings look set to be significantly greater over the long-term.

^*Based on calculation of: 13,000 24W (27W System Wattage) TECOH^® MHx, replacing 35W (42W System Wattage) metal halides running 12 hours/day, X 6 days/week