Charlotte Russe, with over 300 outlets nationwide, appeals to a wide customer age range, with a core emphasis on the fashion and lifestyle needs of young women in their teens and twenties, offering trend-right apparel and accessories at value prices. Strong economic benefits achieved from these stores propelled the company into a national expansion effort that now includes 39 states. In an effort to increase available cash flow, Charlotte Russe has looked to energy efficiency as an opportunity to reduce operational costs. Centralized control and efficient energy management was a top priority in the national office.
Objectives:
- An intuitive lighting control and HVAC system for store personnel which limits employee interaction and offers comfortable lighting and HVAC conditions;
- Centralized control and monitoring of lighting from corporate headquarters;
- Free, lifetime programming, monitoring and adjustment from the manufacturer to ease operational cost
Results:
- 24-hour product turnaround
- Reduce energy use by 30%
- Lower lamp replacement
- Rapid return on investment
- 24 / 7 / 365 dial-up customer support
Nationwide Control of Both Lighting and HVAC
LC&D’s reputation with other national specialty chains, and the features of the GR 2400 System, made them the logical choice to provide Charlotte Russe with an energy management system. According to Jon Stachelrodt, LC&D VP, “We can deliver a system comparable to those available for big box retailers but at a price more suitable for specialty retailers. We can adjust schedules and temperatures. We can monitor lighting and the status of RTU’s and run logging reports for scheduled lamp changes. We can limit store personnel’s ability to locally adjust thermostats and prevent condenser freeze-ups.”
Efficient Energy Management
Charlotte Russe’s top priority was centralized control and efficient energy management.
Additionally, they needed an intuitive lighting control system which allowed for flexible scheduling and limited employee interaction with temperature and lighting controls.
“Charlotte Russe came to us with a laundry list of requirements that would help them save energy costs with a resultant boost to the bottom line. They had not been able to get this wish-list fulfilled at an affordable price until we gave them our numbers,” says LC&D National Sales Manager Ward Christiansen.
Christiansen adds, “Initially, Charlotte Russe was particularly interested in handling code compliance issues with the GR 2400™ System. But after being shown how our
T-Link™ Card with Intelligent Thermostats could add to their savings, Charlotte Russe also added it to their specifications. Additionally, Charlotte Russe specified LC&D’s SoftStart™ relays for their incandescent lamps. These reduce “hot-shock” and premature lamp failures, a costly monthly operating expense item for any retailer. Though Charlotte Russe uses our software for monitoring each store, they also take advantage of our free, dial-up programming support. This reduces training for support personnel.”
24 Hour Product Turnaround
A top concern was instant product turn-around, frequently on a 24-hour basis, which LC&D made their top priority. Other main issues were: ease of installation, user-friendly equipment which required no employee training (to avoid turn-around issues) and 24/7/365 dial-up customer service.
The LC&D System
Panels, switches and thermostats daisy chain together using cat.5 patch cable with RJ45 connectors in any sequence. The entire system is linked to a modem or a web enabled “Link” card for remote access and programming.
Control Panels
The GR 2400 Relay Panel comes with 32 or 48 relays. Multiple panels may be linked together – ideal for small footprint retailers. The 32-channel / 365 day / astronomical time clock serves as a programming interface for the entire system while non-volatile memory holds all programming indefinitely.
Manual Controls
An employee’s only usual point of interaction with the GR 2400 System is the Chelsea DigitalSwitch™. A two button switch nearest the staff entry allows the first person in to turn ON a limited number of lighting circuits and an OFF button for the last employee out the door. A six button “Zone Override” switch mounted in the manager’s office provides total control of every lighting and HVAC zone.
“Smart” Temperature Control
The T-Link™ Card with Intelligent Thermostat, which controls up to 32 Intelligent Thermostats, creates a small, affordable energy management system through local and remote monitoring and programming of multiple heating and cooling thermostats. Any thermostat may be adjusted to limit employee tampering.
Reduce Lamp “Hot-Shock”
SoftStart™ relays for incandescent lamps reduce premature lamp failures and “hot shock,” the effect on a cold lamp filament when it is suddenly heated by applying power.
Intuitive Graphical Software
Unity™ Lighting Control Software bundles design, control, monitoring and management in one, free, easy-to-use system. Unity GX™ Advanced Graphical Software offers complete graphical control from any computer (for local and global controls).
Return on Investment
Used in conjunction with the GR 2400 lighting control and HVAC control systems, energy use for retailers such as Charlotte Russe can be reduced by 30% or more with ROI under 30 days in new construction or 6 months when retrofitting an existing space.
Free Dial-up Programming
LC&D’s proactive Tech Support team is available on a 24/7/365 basis to trouble shoot and re-program on a moment’s notice, drastically reducing ongoing regular maintenance costs. LC&D design software can cut design time by 75%, saving money and planning time. LC&D systems are completely monitored, programmed, adjusted and maintained with dial-up programming for the life of the system with changes made while the client is on the phone with the LC&D support team.
“Lighting controls aren’t only for big box retailers. We are seeing a trend which indicates that the future of lighting controls in specialty retailers is mushrooming commensurate with increased costs in energy.”
--David Wilson, Founder, CEO
LC&D
“A properly designed lighting and HVAC control system can reduce energy consumption by as much as 50% in specialty retailers. The trick is implementation. LC&D’s approach to lighting controls is unique in this industry: once a lighting control system is pur-chased, most manufacturers consider that to be the end of it. We consider it to be just the start.”
Bill Lahey, VP, Sales
LC&D
