By Myron Love
In the early 1950s, World War II veteran Dave Kowall, partnered with his friend Jake Karlinsky, got hold of some surplus army material and opened a custom manufacturing operation they called Super-lite Electric Mfg. Co. At its peak, the company became one of the largest manufacturers of light fixtures in western Canada.
While Super-lite is no longer involved in manufacturing, under the leadership of Simon Simkin, the company has evolved into one of Winnipeg’s premier independent light and light fixture retailers.
Although light fixtures became an important part of Super-lite Manufacturing’s sales, Simkin points out that the company produced several other products during its manufacturing days.
“Dave and Jake operated a custom manufacturing company specializing in light manufacturing,” Simkin recounted. “In the ‘50s and ‘60s, for example, the company made a lot of rooftop TV antennas.”
Another of their products was chicken brooder lamps that poultry producers used to keep their hens warm. Also in the agricultural field, Super-lite produced hoppers for silos to facilitate grain flow.
The company also had the contract for making Manitoba Lottery signage.
“At one point, K-Tel came to us to repair their new frying pans that had been improperly packed,” Simkin says. “We were hired to repair the pans’ exteriors.”
It was in light fixtures, though, that the company really made its mark. Among the high profile assignments, Simkin points out, was all the overhead lighting for Portage Place when the downtown shopping mall was originally built in the 1980s.
Simkin recalls that he began working for Super-lite in the late 1970s. “I had recently finished university and spent a few months travelling around Europe. I needed a job.”
Simkin notes that cousins of his, Jack and Murray Simkin, had purchased the company from Kowall and Karlinsky in the early 1970s.
“I started sweeping the floor,” Simon recalls. “I later worked in shipping.”
In 1990, his Simkin cousins both moved to San Diego. They sold Super-lit to Simon and partners Stewart Pudavick and Alan Hochman. The latter, Simkin reports, was the founder of The Floor Show, the largest dealer in residential and commercial floor coverings in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Northwestern Ontario. He moved The Floor Show in with Super-lite.
For decades, Simkin says, Super-lite operated out of a location on Logan. “We could see by the late 1980s that we wouldn’t be able to compete as manufacturers with cheap Chinese labour,” he says. “So, we decided to close the factory and transform Super-lite into strictly a lighting retailer and wholesaler.”
“We remained on Logan for several years – until our landlord informed us that he would not be renewing the lease on Logan.”
One day, shortly after Simkin and his partners learned that they would have to relocate, the former recalls, he noticed a real estate sign outside a building on Waverley which he frequently drove by.
“The owner was looking to rent,” he recalls. “I drove into the parking lot. I noticed there was plenty of parking front and back. And since I knew that the previous tenant had been a commercial printer, I realized that there would be a lot of power available – a feature we would need for air-conditioning and lighting. There would also be space for both Super-lite and The Floor Show.”
Simkin and his partners signed the lease on the new location in the fall of 2008 and opened on Waverley the following April.
Super-lite’s president notes that Super-lite’s main competition is from big box stores. “Our advantage,” he points out, “is that we have knowledgeable long-time staff who can offer personalized service as well as a better grade of merchandise. As well, we make a concerted effort to display interesting products.”
He adds that Super-lite staff find themselves serving that the third or fourth generation owners of the same house.
Simkin reports that business had been growing continuously until the Covid lockdown. “That put a dent in our business,” he reports, “but we are bouncing back nicely – although business is not all the way back yet.”
Now that he is in his 70s, Simkin concedes that he is thinking about stepping back but is confident that Super-lite still has a secure future.
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