Murray Feiss Import and Sea Gull Lighting Products have agreed to combine forces and create Quality Home Brands.

The new holding company will be North America's biggest privately held lighting and home decor vendor and could be in place by mid-November, barring unforeseen complications in closing the deal. The various brands of both companies will fall under the umbrella of Quality Home Brands under joint ownership by Sea Gull and Murray Feiss family principals and a private investment firm which the Murray Feiss group joined with in May 2004, said Ron Hersh, Murray Feiss president of administration.

Consolidated efforts will begin before year-end to make the companies' design, production and logistics capacities more efficient, Hersh said.

There are no immediate plans to combine sales and marketing efforts, but that could come later if found feasible and sensible, he said.

"We do have customers who buy from some or all of the brands, but there's never been any concerted effort to coordinate that," Hersh said. "Although that is a goal of ours going into the future, our initial goal is to really leverage the areas of expertise both of our companies have grown their businesses on for decades and decades."

Murray Feiss, a lighting and decorative accessory resource for interior/exterior products for home and hospitality, and Sea Gull Lighting, a maker and marketer of indoor/outdoor lighting and ceiling fans, will continue to distribute their respective brands.

Those include Ambiance Lighting Systems, Light Process, Murray Feiss Import, Royce Lighting, Monte Carlo Fan and Sea Gull Lighting. Licensed products include lines for Bob Mackie Home, Colonial Williamsburg, Waverly and PGA Tour.

"While we're both in the lighting business, we really cover different segments," said Ace Rosenstein, Sea Gull Lighting vice president of marketing and product development. "The Murray Feiss brands have been traditionally strong in the home decor and lighting showroom arenas while Sea Gull has been very strong in the electrical wholesale community and the new construction markets."

Distribution channels for Murray Feiss and Sea Gull are similar but also slightly different.

"There are strengths the Sea Gull group brings to the table and strengths the Murray Feiss group brings to the table and we believe strongly this is a computation that when you add one and one together you get three or more," Hersh said. "By putting all of our efforts together, you create quite a powerhouse."

Response from dealers, sales organizations and others within the industry has been positive, both companies reported.

"The folks in markets where we do not currently sell are calling and saying, 'We want your product line,'" Rosenstein said. "While we intend not to merge sales operations and product lines, it's positive in that the industry is saying, 'If it's good for you, it's good for us and we'll try it.'"

Sea Gull, which now carries 15 lighting product categories, expects to use the partnership as a platform to expand into new categories, Rosenstein said.