Power for the garden

It is not only lighting products like LEDs that can change the design of living areas through light. The garden lighting concept from Easy Connect also intends to make its contribution. Basically this product is a simple and flexible system that can provide power for the garden. The cable (no transformer required) is connected to a power source, and then branched as often as required in the garden with the help of a click-twist system. In this way it is possible not only to plug in several light sources but also to position power sockets in the garden as required. “You can provide garden equipment like lawnmowers or hedge clippers with power,” explains Marc Kalmbach, Easy Connect’s sales director Europe. Moreover, the cable system (230 V, 3 600 Watt, 16 A) is waterproof to a depth of one metre, which means it can be laid in ponds or under the earth. “Here,” says Kalmbach, “there is a great deal of educational work to be done, because we have to overcome consumers’ fear of electricity in combination with water.” Easy Connect has built up a programme of lighting for the outdoor area around this power supply system. It includes a great variety of articles for lighting paths or steps, ponds or streams, screen fencing or pavilions. The company’s range also has suitable solutions for illuminating Christmas trees out-of-doors and for regulating the light source by remote control. Available tor in-store presentations are different display solutions and shop concepts that can also be varied according to the season and targeted towards the current requirement of the market. Videos can also be integrated into the shelving if so desired. For the start contracts have been agreed with established providers for servicing the stores, but the company intends to set up its own field organisation in the medium term. The stores are currently supplied through a logistics centre in Barcelona. Here, too, the intention is to move closer to the central European markets in the medium term. Easy Connect was founded in Toulouse, France, by Florent Julien in 2003. However, the entrepreneur did not take his product to market until 2008. In the meantime it has become firmly established in the French DIY retail scene. Then in 2010 came the presentation of the product at Gafa/Spoga in Cologne for the first time. International marketing began that same year in Switzerland. Since 2011 Marc Kalmbach has been responsible for opening up the European market, and Germany in particular. Kalmbach…