In 1951, Mel Jacobson started Mel's Van O Lite in Minneapolis, MN, by stocking and selling light bulbs out of a van -- hence the name. In 1955, he partnered with Don McLellan and their company really started to develop a presence in the Minneapolis area. In the 1960's a warehouse was purchased and Mel's Van O Lite began its role as a prime light bulb distributor in the Minneapolis, MN area. During this time period, Mel's Van O Lite moved twice as they continued to grow and need more warehousing.
After Mel retired in 1980, Don McLellan continued to run the company (as Van O Lite) with three of his sons, Dave (Service Lighting President), Tom and Steve. It was during this time that Van O Lite solidified its presence in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area as a major player in the lighting industry.
Van O Lite, Inc. first landed on the internet in the fall of 1996, and Paul McLellan (Dave McLellan's son & Service Lighting Vice President) started work on what would become the first company to sell light bulbs online.
In September of 2000, Van O Lite, Inc. created Lite-House.com, which was to be its new dedicated e-commerce superstore! Lite-House.com quickly became the most complete online light bulb store with well over 4,000 lighting products, many features to help the customer locate their products, "human" customer service and much more... it's because of those hard to find traits that Lite-House.com promised to be a leader in lighting e-commerce. Van O Lite had to move once again in 2001 to accommodate the incredible amount of growth that their internet presence had created for them.
In April of 2004, Van O Lite and Lite-House.com merged to create Service Lighting. Web sales increased so much that Lite-House.com was folded into its parent company, Van O Lite. The name "Van O Lite", whose inception was based on business being conducted out of the back of a cargo van, had become somewhat obsolete, so a new company was forged: Service Lighting. In 2004 and 2005, ServiceLighting.com also increased its product line from 4,000 to more than 15,000!
Due to phenomenal growth through its website, www.servicelighting.com, Service Lighting moved from Fridley, MN (after nearly 30 years) to a new state-of-the-art facility in Maple Grove, MN.
Service Lighting has always been a SERVICE company. It has always been the firm belief that customer service is #1. This is especially important in a day where complicated machines seem to service more people than humans do. Whatever lighting product you're looking for, Service Lighting does its best to locate it for you and at a very reasonable price. In fact, we have some of the lowest prices online for our name brand quality products. If the light bulb is available, we can supply it for you.
Enjoy shopping at Service Lighting for all of your lighting needs!
