Foley, AL
Background
Jim ‘N Nick’s is a successful restaurant chain known for its slow-cooked BBQ and cheese biscuits. Since the first Jim ‘N Nick’s opened in Birmingham, AL in 1985, they’ve expanded to over 40 locations across the Southeast.
Challenge
The owners of Jim N’ Nick’s opened a new location in Foley, AL by renovating an old Ruby Tuesday’s building. They wanted to replace the existing lighting to improve visibility, particularly for the restaurant’s drive-thru, while limiting expenses by keeping the existing lighting poles.
Solution
Tomi Shaw, a lighting professional at Southern Company, needed to find a way to utilize the existing poles while also optimizing the performance of the new light fixtures. The Light ARchitect app was the perfect solution for Tomi. The app allowed her to test out solutions that used the existing poles by quickly comparing different fixtures and optics. She was able to produce photometrics while presenting to the customers and explaining how the lights would perform at night.
Results
The owners of Jim ‘N Nick's were blown away by the results of the retrofit. The new fixtures produced bright and uniform lighting that allowed customers to come in and out of the restaurant with no issues. The use of zero trespass lighting also meant that the customer was not wasting money on unnecessary lighting. Drone images of the site at night show how the lighting is even and bright without spilling onto the nearby roadway. The success of this project led to other jobs across the state in other Jim ‘N Nick's restaurants.
Light ARchitect changed Tomi's perception of Cooper Lighting Solutions. She now uses the app daily and shares it with her customers, coworkers, and even vendors. Overall, the app has helped Tomi streamline her process, save time, and produce better results for her customers. She says, “It’s by far one of the best tools I have to close a sale.”
