King of the hill in the portable lamp category is the discount department store/off-price re-tailer where 2005 sales of $1.8 billion and almost a quarter of the market are poised to garner another estimated $90 million next year. The scope of design may be limited, but the sheer number of store doors overwhelms any other channel.

Walk the aisles of Lowes or Home Depot, which between the two have more than 3,025 stores, and you'll see the other place the portable lamp business appears to be heading. Names of major lamp companies — Kichler and Progress Lighting, to name just two — combine with private label to offer a variety of lamps and shades.

That's why the home improvement center/warehouse membership club channel is No. 2 in sales for 2005 at $1.4 billion and estimated to jump more than 7% to $1.5 billion in 2006 and control almost 20% of the market.

The medium to higher end of the portable lamp business continues to stay strong with home accent/gift stores at $925 million in 2005, lamp & lighting stores/chains at $900 million and interior designers at $460 million, a total of more than 30% of the market. The erosion in home accent/gift stores and lamp & lighting stores' emphasis on fixtures seems to indicate flat sales for 2006, but interior designers are expected to show good growth of about 6%.

Traditional furniture stores round out the strongest part of portable lamps with sales of $650 million in 2005 and estimated sales of $669 million in 2006.