In the 1960’s through the mid 1990’s, most lighting fixtures, including table and floor lamps, chandeliers, wall sconces, and outdoor lighting were made in Canada in either Toronto or Montreal. This period of vibrant lighting manufacturing, run by self taught entrepreneurs, was reflected in an abundance of innovative designs that most Canadians still have in their homes. Names like Anthony Art, Artcraft, Demilo, Engelite, Heritage, Lumiray, Polon, Singer, Scorpio, Superior, Sunset, Thau’s and Chandelier Fashion were the giants of the industry in their day producing quality lamps and fixtures for both the Canadian and American markets. Supplying lighting parts to all of them, DVI Lighting stood quietly in the background as Canada’s premier lighting parts supplier.
Back then DVI Lighting was known as Dominion Ventures. Starting operations in 1966 in Montreal, Canada under the control of Adam Altenberg, Dominion sold a range of lamp parts. Whether it was the socket on the lamp, or the candle sleeve on the chandelier, most of the lamp parts used in the fixtures built in Canada during the 1960’s through the late 1990’s were manufactured or imported by Dominion Ventures.
Unfortunately, this “golden age” of Canadian lighting manufacturing ended in the late 1990’s. This happened for two reasons: the aging of the original lighting manufacturer’s in Canada and the emergence of China as the manufacturing centre for the world, not only in lighting but practically in everything. Most Canadian lighting manufacturers were unable to compete with Chinese manufactured product. Despite the poor quality of the original Chinese imported goods, most Canadian lighting manufacturer’s, one by one, closed their doors in the face of a flood of imported lighting, sold to consumers at prices below most Canadian manufacturers’ costs.
A page from our 1996 Catalogue
The advent of Chinese manufacturing also changed where Canadians bought their lighting. In the 1980’s, there were over 300 lighting showrooms in Canada, supplemented by over an estimated 10,000 furniture stores that sold lamps and some chandeliers. However, in the mid 1990’s the first “Big box” stores emerged, first in Canada with Aikenheads and RONA, and later with the arrival of Home Depot, and Lowe’s. From 1996 through 2006, the number of box stores across Canada went from 30 to over 200. Faced with the pressures of competing with cheap Chinese imports in the box stores, the number of lighting showroom’s in Canada decreased from over 300 in the early 90’s to fewer than 150 in 2000.
The collapse of the Canadian lighting manufacturers and the fundamental shift in the lighting business forced Dominion Ventures to adapt its business. The lighting parts which Dominion had supplied lighting manufacturer’s for over three decades had been coming from offshore for most of that time. First from the Philippines and Korea, then from Taiwan and finally from China, buying lamp parts overseas had taught the owners of Dominion Ventures about offshore production. Now under the leadership of David Elman and Sam Wineberg, DVI had to cease functioning as a lighting parts supplier and at first, in order to survive, started to design its own fixtures and use its relationships in China in order to metamorphosis itself from a OEM supplier into a fixture company.
The first Dominion Ventures chandeliers were manufactured in Canada, but it became quickly apparent that manufacturing in Canada was unrealistic given the price points of lighting being sold in the marketplace. Slowly, new and innovated designs were developed, and the company began to move systems and production to its Chinese factories. Training the Chinese manufacturer’s that quality had to take priority over mass production was an endemic problem then, but as the relationship’s strengthened between the Canadian designers and the Chinese manufacturer’s a harmonious relationship developed which still continues to this day. Dominion’s first designs hit the market in 1997, blending fashionable design with pricing competitive to mass produced imports. This earned Dominion a firm place in the marketplace, a position still held to this day.
DVI was one of the first Canadian lighting companies to move production to China. However, it was not the only one. New companies have emerged to do battle for the Canadian lighting market, and like the days during the golden age of lighting in the 1970’s and 80’s, competition has proved itself a wonderful thing for the Canadian consumer.
The lighting environment in 2006 has fundamentally changed also. The box stores attempted, but did not succeed in destroying the lighting showrooms in the early days of the new millennia. Slowly, lighting companies, now importers, have brought different benefits to the lighting showrooms. Some have brought price, others fashion and still others commodity value. In turn, the showrooms have once again flourished. Today, lighting showrooms compete shoulder to shoulder with big box stores, and competition between them serves the Canadian consumer with a variety of choices for their lighting needs.
In 1994, Dominion Ventures changed its name to DVI Lighting. This change came about as DVI itself changed. With over 80 staff in Toronto, 40 sales representatives across North America, and full time staff in China overseeing over a thousand workers at the assembly facilities there, DVI has become a major player in the lighting industry in Canada as well as entering the teeming waters of the American market. As always, our commitment to design and fashion is pushing us ever forward. New and innovative products are always in development and DVI is committed to bringing Canadians another “golden age” of lighting.
