Voodoo Bayou Gets New Lighting for a Bolder Customer Experience
[Palm Beach Gardens, FL] — Jim Devine of the Palm Beach District Projects Department is no stranger to decorative lighting and good Southern Cajun food. Fortunately for him, both of these areas of his expertise came to light when Voodoo Bayou in Palm Beach Gardens contacted him about a lighting remodel for their new restaurant with an expensive budget.
“Voodoo Bayou wanted a very specific feeling to really give their restaurant that dark New Orleans vibe,” Devine said. “People in the south take authentic Cajun food seriously, so not only does the food need to be spot-on, but the restaurant itself also has to have this feeling that you’re in New Orleans getting a real southern Cajun experience. One of the best ways to do that is with the right lighting.”
With the expensive lighting budget that Voodoo Bayou had for their remodel, and over 8,000 square feet of space to work with, Devine knew he could give them an exceptional lighting package at a fraction of the cost they were being quoted elsewhere. And because City Electric Supply is one of the top distributors in North America, Devine could supply all of the products for Voodoo Bayou both inside and out, including gear and lighting.
“Even though almost none of the lighting was your typical install-and-done type of product, and quite a bit of it required some customizing, we were still able to save Voodoo Bayou about 50% to 60% on their overall lighting package,” Devine said. “Ultimately, they wanted a very specific customer experience, and they weren’t afraid to experiment or spend to get that perfect atmosphere. Fortunately, we were able to give them that perfect atmosphere and exactly what they wanted while falling well under their budget.”
However, that perfect atmosphere took some finetuning and some of the leading vendors in the lighting industry to help out. In the original quote, Devine included several vendors to make sure the project was completed exactly how Curtis Peery, owner of Voodoo Bayou and Calaveras Cantina in Jupiter, Florida, wanted it.
“From the very beginning — when we were deciding on the different fixtures and lamps — we all shared the same vision that Curtis Peery had for this new Cajun experience: bold, a little dark, but still lively and inviting.”
After being awarded the bid, Devine immediately got to work. Over the next four to five months, he met with Slater Lighting — a decorative and commercial lighting expert — to perfect the lighting design and lighting layout, which helped give Voodoo Bayou’s customers that authentic Cajun experience they were looking for.
In addition to Slater, some other vendors that helped in this project included Prime Light for custom lighting, Tamlite Lighting for exit and emergency signs, Satco for some of the decorative lamps in the restaurant, Lutron for controls and sensors to set the perfect moods and lighting schedules, Nora Lighting, ASD Lighting, and more. Although City Electric Supply helped supply all of the lighting and gear, it was Abaco Electric’s expert installation work that put it all together.
Setting the perfect lighting, mood, and experience can be a little challenging to get right. As Devine recalls, the high ceilings, the narrow beam spreads, and the different Kelvin temperatures were somewhat of a difficult process.
“Over the course of the seven-month project, we had to experiment with Kelvin temperatures to make sure light wasn’t spilling over where we didn’t want it. We worked with temperatures from 3000K to 3500K and had very narrow 10-degree beam spreads. When you’re working with fixtures that are 25 feet in the air and trying to cast that specific light to the ground, it’s going to be a little challenging,” Devine said. “But it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle.”
The project was recently completed in February, so only a few customers got to see the officially opened and completed restaurant. But Devine can’t wait for things to get back to normal so everyone in Palm Beach Gardens can get a real Cajun experience from a unique restaurant that was certainly missing from the area.
Working with Voodoo Bayou and Curtis Peery was a reminder to Devine why he enjoys working in the decorative lighting space so much. Helping clients see a project reach completion exactly how they envisioned it is exciting, but it’s also a challenge and no two projects are ever the same.
“Decorative lighting can be difficult to understand and get right,” Devine said. “But over the years, I’ve worked on several projects like this, and every time, I learn a lot about how it works and what sort of experience great decorative lighting can provide.”
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City Electric Supply is a family-owned electrical wholesale distributor dedicated to providing the best customer service in the industry since 1983. City Electric Supply currently operates 506 locations in 30 states in the United States. For more information, please visit cityelectricsupply.com or visit us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @CityElectricUSA.