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Malibu Landscape Lighting exiting business

60K views 90 replies 28 participants last post by  Mike M 
#1 ·
My name is Tom Rabic. I am the soon to be former Malibu Lighting Product Manager at Intermatic, Inc.

Recently Intermatic has made the decision to exit the low voltage landscape lighting fixture business.

We are currently offering approximately 70 lighting products at excellent prices.

Please visit the Intermatic web site at the following link to review the current list.

http://www.intermatic.com/Malibu Opportunity Buys.aspx

Once on the site, there is a link to an order form for customers without an existing account, that will guide you through the order process.

This list will continue to be updated as needed over the next few months, so please check back occasionally.

I hope your business can benefit from this unprecedented opportunity.

Respectfully,

Tom Rabic
Malibu Product Manager
Intermatic, Inc
 
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#3 ·
:)

Sheesh, what the heck are we all gonna do now? I mean really! Malibu, next Noma Moonrays, soon that pyramid stuff... This is the stuff that I used to propel my business! After all, once the clients had either bought, had installed or seen their neighbours with this stuff, it made selling custom & pro-grade a cinch!

It is curious to note that no transformers are on the list. What are they doing with all of those 60, 80 & 120 watt, inappropriately listed, no secondary protection, plastic encapsulated black transformers?
 
#6 ·
Thank you for the head's-up Tom.

No offense intended, but those fixtures are absolutely the lowest quality crapola on the market. I have handled the product at big box stores... we all have! The "Metal" (exactly what metal are we talking about here?) is insanely thin and breaks with the slightest impact. The "shroud" is a tab in slot design that generally does not fit too well and the shrouds loosen off easily. The 'ground stakes' are a joke, as are the knuckles. Glare control is virtually non existant.

You can not seriously begin to compare this product to even the cheapest SE Asian knock off fixtures. We know it and I am sure you do too.

Has anyone ever seen a Malibu lighting system that is more than 1 year old that is complete and functioning properly? I thought not.
 
#7 ·
James,
This is the part where I'm supposed to say "no offense taken"?
Ok, no offense taken.
We have been your competitor, indirectly for years, and I think I understand where you are coming from.
Your assessment and comparisons are a little over the top, but I still maintain that there are some very attractive values on this list for those that need an edge in this economy.

Tom
 
#8 ·
Tom,

I am sorry to hear that about Malibu and your position at the company, its quite shocking, actually. It is a serious concern to be seeing these types of changes occurring on both the professional and consumer side of the industry. We would all like to see growth as a rising tide lifts all boats. I wish you and your family well.

Sincerely,

Alan
 
#10 ·
This guy comes in here humble with hat in hand, admitting the end to his position and malibu's exit to the business and for the most part has been torn down and lectured about how bad his product is. Granted, most lighting professionals wouldn't claim to use Malibu, it still doesn't justify tearing someone down to prove a point.
 
#12 ·
Tom, sorry about the reception here and hope you and your family land somewhere in this economy. You might give Alan a call over at landscape lighting world or pm griffin here. They are a sponsor here, and they are just starting out in the landscape lighting biz and have what looks to be great products for the landscape lighting pro.

I will say this, sadly, that the unavailability of Malibu par 36 bulbs at Lowes and Home Depot will hurt hundreds of thousands of Homeowners that buy those for malibu and other ( read Nightscaping ) fixtures. Without you guys selling and ordering millions from bulb manu's, those bulbs are gonna disappear or double in price. I met one such customer last night. The LV wire you sell is also just as good ( except maybe super flex) as we all use every day.

And Intermatic makes awesome digital timers and photocells that all of us use and maintain.

Good Luck to you.
 
#13 ·
It is a little disturbing that some people can "celebrate" the loss of jobs and incredible negative impact this closing will have on numerous families associated with Malibu. I didn't use the product, but give the guy a break. Some of you guys should have your livelihood ripped from you and try and go find a job in this economy.
 
#15 ·
Thank you Alan.

To Greenlights last point; I know that there are many homeowners out there that would love to have a professional install "commercial" grade lights, but it is just not within their budget.
It is those customers that Malibu has, for the most part, successfully served for many years, while also competing in a very demanding retail environment.
Tom
 
#16 ·
Thank you for your good wishes David.
There may be a minor and temporary hole in the the market, but I will not be too surprised if it gets filled it rather quickly.
Our industrial division remains in tact, and we do have many excellent products on that side of the business.
 
#17 ·
jnewton,

When people "celebrate" (exact word used in a previous post) the demise of a product line, no matter what the perceived quality, that is exactly what they are doing, especially a product so wide spread. If that poster would have celebrated Nightscaping's temporary (and maybe permanent) demise, would your reaction have been the same. I don't like Saturns, I think they are poor quality automobiles, but I won't be celebrating if they get the hammer. So no, living in a state where job's are at a premium and fading fast, I won't lighten up.
 
#21 ·
Tom,

Sorry to hear you will have to be looking for other means of income. These times are tough for a lot of people and changes are having to be made all around. Unfortunately I can't say I am sorry to hear Malibu exiting the stage but I am sure some other product will jump in a take their place. I know they were trying to offer a cheap product to the market place, but in reality they have actually done far more harm to the legitimate low voltage lighting industry than good.

The following remarks are primarily targeted towards Hampton Bay and Malibu products, the LOWES vs. HOME DEPOT brands.

They have provided product without education to the general masses. Any legitimate lighting guy knows that simply telling a customer all they have to do is daisy chain their lights with some pierce point connectors and they will have a winning system is not only erronious but downright deceptive. All in the name of making a quick, cheap buck. I have suspected for years that these "lights" and "transformers" were knowingly designed and constructed to be installed this way so that in 2-4 years the manufacturer could expect that same customer to come back and purchase replacement fixtures, more wire and more transformers because of the pre-planned and projected product failure. This seems to be the case as I always have to tear out this junk, throw it away, and completely re-educate clients who have been sold these false bill of goods.

Every day, we in the lighting industry have to battle with our customers over the perceived value of the products we install and the specialty work that we do. This is a direct result of them walking into one of these stores and seeing some annodized pot metal fixture priced at a mere 35 bucks, adding up how many we specified into their job and then doing the multiplication in their head to figuire up what he "perceives" he should be paying for the "solid metal" fixtures. Now, in reality it really doesn't take to much to overcome these objections about product quality. Simply place a solid brass fixture in their hand along with the "metal" fixture from one of these others and the differences in actual quality become clear right away.

The biggest thing we have to overcome is the psychological stigma of low voltage lighting being junk because, "well bubba, he had some at his house and he was always replacing light bulbs and they were dim and the fixtures didn't last very long so I should probably install some line voltage lights since they won't give me all these problems". When in reality, Bubba was told he could do it himself so easily, and with all his shiny new fixtures in tow he goes home and pieces his lights together only to start encountering problems within months, because no one ever told him, "Hey Bubba, you shouldn't use those pierce points. They are just going to let water get into the copper wire and corrode your system from the inside out!" or "Hey Bubba, Didn't anyone ever tell you to make sure you have 10.8-11.5 volts at all your halogen lamps or you'll be fighting burnouts and dim bulbs, oh they didn't tell you that, well why not?!"

Literally millions of people across this country and abroad have been duped into falling for these cheap, gimmicky fixtures and brainwashed into believing that they are every bit as good as what the pros use only cheaper and you don't have to pay for professonial installation fees when "WE" will show "YOU" how to do it yourself. (and then we will collect more money from you in a few years again!)

Sorry Tom, but hopefully you will realize the problems these types of products cause for those of us who are truly passionate about this profession and industry.
 
#22 ·
It is a little disturbing that some people can "celebrate" the loss of jobs and incredible negative impact this closing will have on numerous families associated with Malibu. I didn't use the product, but give the guy a break. Some of you guys should have your livelihood ripped from you and try and go find a job in this economy.
I did......... And it took me moving clear across country to find another one right in your backyard.
 
#24 ·
Tim,

Although we are coming at it from different angles, I am with you on the education piece. That has always been one of our biggest challenges.
The more the customer understands the value proposition, including the product quality, labor and/or maintenance side of the equation, the better the odds that they will make the decision that best suits their needs.

Tom
 
#25 ·
Tim,

Although we are coming at it from different angles, I am with you on the education piece. That has always been one of our biggest challenges.
The more the customer understands the value proposition, including the product quality, labor and/or maintenance side of the equation, the better the odds that they will make the decision that best suits their needs.

Tom
Agreed, Thanks Tom. I truly wish you and your family well on your future endeavours.
 
#26 ·
Tom, at what point did Intermatic start making so much Malibu product line offshore? I remember Toro jumping into the retail DIY lighting market in the mid to late 80's, and then in the 90's a lot of other offshore product flooding the shelves from Home Depot to Ace Hardware stores and OSH.

Malibu made the first LV system I ever worked on, around my grandfather's fish pond in the late 70's. Plastic stems and metal hats that twisted on.

I actually installed dozens of your ribbed metal uplights at a couple houses my brother was fixing up and "flipping" up above Sunset Blvd. in the Hollywood Hills on a tight budget maybe 10 years ago.

They weren't my first choice, and I insisted on FX transformers for those jobs, but the lights did the trick for making some tropical looking foliage come to life at night and helped make the sales.

I wish you well.
 
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