Store bought flashlights making a comeback?

[ryaxnb]

I went to a target recently, i had a giftcard and wanted to buy some flashlights as I'm new to this flashaholic thing being 15 and not having much money.
Three observations:
1. some basic brand lites aren't so bad, I got a energizer 4aaa led light, and y'know, though it's nowhere near as bright as a tactical 2AA light, it's bright enough for everyday use. It doesn't use just a weak 5mm LED, it appears to use something like a 1W with a really good focus beam. Not too much of a ringed pattern, and very small and handy. It's a decent light, and it cost $20 and was a basic energizer target light. Sure it was the highest end energizer they had, but still. They also had a nice Dorcy 1 watt and a Maglite 2D LED, which is great if you need long runtimes or focusing (the maglite will run for ~12-20 hours at high brightness, which other flashlights don't do, not even tactical.) Even the $10 flashlight packs that use to come with the crappy incan lights with horrible switches, had what looks like a decent switch and a 5mm LED, for just $10. Not a good light really, but OK.
2. They had tactical! Fenix, Inova, and target brand "River Rock". Real nice lights in the $30-45 price range, with LEDs up to ~5watts, Cree LEDs, and things like the XO and X5 from Inova. Really i'm surprised at the selection, those were some nice lights. I like long runtime so I got a River Rock Nightfire 2C light. Cree 3.8 watt bulb, and very bright and great beam. Basic, entry level tactical. I even saw a surefire, IIRC.
3. The multi-stage lights seem not to be popular at retail or with the public yet. And they still had plenty of crappy lights, like a 2D basic $5 eveready, and a $35 3D incan Maglite. but if you chose right, you could get some nice lights at any price from $20-50.
Pretty much I think the decentness of a basic flashlight now and the lower prices of tactical (down from rather high $75+ to basic entry-level at $30-40) mean that both types of light are more common at these stores now. They had a whole isle dedicated to mostly flashlights, which seems to indicate that flashlights are selling more than they used to, especially high-profit high-end lights.
So have you seen decent lights at stores? Where. A decent light should IMHO have some sort of 0.5W+ LED, and a decent construction.

 

[Big_Ed]

It's nice to see that Target has been selling higher quality lights like Inova.
Lowes sells some good lights, like Surefire 6P LED, and G2 LED.

 

[Jake.t]

I went to a target recently, i had a giftcard and wanted to buy some flashlights as I'm new to this flashaholic thing being 15 and not having much money.
Three observations:
1. some basic brand lites aren't so bad, I got a energizer 4aaa led light, and y'know, though it's nowhere near as bright as a tactical 2AA light, it's bright enough for everyday use. It doesn't use just a weak 5mm LED, it appears to use something like a 1W with a really good focus beam. Not too much of a ringed pattern, and very small and handy. It's a decent light, and it cost $20 and was a basic energizer target light. Sure it was the highest end energizer they had, but still. They also had a nice Dorcy 1 watt and a Maglite 2D LED, which is great if you need long runtimes or focusing (the maglite will run for ~12-20 hours at high brightness, which other flashlights don't do, not even tactical.) Even the $10 flashlight packs that use to come with the crappy incan lights with horrible switches, had what looks like a decent switch and a 5mm LED, for just $10. Not a good light really, but OK.
2. They had tactical! Fenix, Inova, and target brand "River Rock". Real nice lights in the $30-45 price range, with LEDs up to ~5watts, Cree LEDs, and things like the XO and X5 from Inova. Really i'm surprised at the selection, those were some nice lights. I like long runtime so I got a River Rock Nightfire 2C light. Cree 3.8 watt bulb, and very bright and great beam. Basic, entry level tactical. I even saw a surefire, IIRC.
3. The multi-stage lights seem not to be popular at retail or with the public yet. And they still had plenty of crappy lights, like a 2D basic $5 eveready, and a $35 3D incan Maglite. but if you chose right, you could get some nice lights at any price from $20-50.
Pretty much I think the decentness of a basic flashlight now and the lower prices of tactical (down from rather high $75+ to basic entry-level at $30-40) mean that both types of light are more common at these stores now. They had a whole isle dedicated to mostly flashlights, which seems to indicate that flashlights are selling more than they used to, especially high-profit high-end lights.
So have you seen decent lights at stores? Where. A decent light should IMHO have some sort of 0.5W+ LED, and a decent construction.

i buy all of my lights in a store because if I ordered a flashlight online i would die with eagerness for it to get to me

 

[american lockpicker]

It's nice to see that Target has been selling higher quality lights like Inova.
Lowes sells some good lights, like Surefire 6P LED, and G2 LED.

At Lowes if you talk to the manager they can order just about any Surefire you just have to pay for it before they order it.

 

[Fenris]

I have never seen a target that sells $urefire or Fenix lights. Where do you live?

 

[StarHalo]

if I ordered a flashlight online i would die with eagerness for it to get to me

That's part of the joy of being a flashaholic

 

[TMedina]

Store bought flashlights will never go away primarily because not everybody can see the point in paying $50+ for a wee tiny little light.

And not everyone has the patience to order, say, a Fenix when the immediate solution of Target or Sprawlmart is right around the corner.

A retail manager may be able to answer this better, but I believe most chains have a certain Return on Investment (ROI) on products they carry. If the product doesn't sell according to the store's standards or expectations, they mark it off as a loss and put it on clearance.

So even if you convince Target to carry, say, the Fenix line of flashlights, how many of those would sell? And Target is calculating how many potential sales it lost of popular products versus supporting a less profitable line.

-Trevor

 

[Cydonia]

There has been an increase in the number of light brands and types available in some Big Box stores. Compared to just a few short years ago anyway. I tend to suspect that this is merely a temporary phenomena. A lot of these lights surely won't sell too good...one by one they will be put on clearance and won't be sold again etc., Plus the economy is such that I, again, suspect grim times to erode certain markets away.
Judging from the OP's Target store, I think they have wayyy too much selection for Joe 6 pack to digest
You had better have a word with that stores manager and recommend they keep only the dim $5 eveready flashlight packs :devil:
After all, a light is just a light. They're all pretty much the same What kinda nut would spend more than $20 on a light anyway?

 

[NeonLights]

Store bought lights have always outsold mail/web ordered flashlights for the general public, and will likely continue to do so for the forseeable future. Non-flashaholics tend to buy flashlights when they actually need one (often too late) and for gifts or for the recently popular emergency kits that they feel they need because of recent natural disasters. Many people treat flashlights as disposable items as well, which is why spending any more than $10-20 on a Maglite is a far-fetched concept to them.

Since LED lights have started to become commonplace the last 5-10 years, lights you can buy at B&M stores have been making progress. Some of the cheap LED lights available at stores now are much better than expensive LED internet lights of just a few years ago.

 

[Light Sabre]

Don't buy the 1AA River Rock flashlight with the aspherical lens for $13. It has the look thru the tube beam pattern, then a big black ring and outside that another ring of very little spill. It's very irritating. I EDC the 1/2 watt AAA River Rock flashlight right next to the other one and this one is only $10 and pretty small. Had to use it the other night coming out of a store. They're light above the steps was out. Just coming from a well lit store, my eyes hadn't night adapted yet, and had to deal with steps in the complete dark. Whipped out my EDC and all went well. Haven't been carrying an EDC light for very long. Was cool to see it come in handy like that.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

It is nice to see better lights in stores at a cheaper price point as technology improves. I don't think stores really have an excuse for keeping better lights out of the marketplace now. Many lights are still too expensive for the average person, but those people don't need a super bright spotlight that can fit in their pocket. Average people also don't need a multilevel user interface that they need to figure out. They just want a light that turns on. There are some high quality lights that I think would do well in stores. For example, the Fenix L1T and L2T versions 2.0, the E20, and the EO1 would sell very well in stores. Put Fenix EO1s on Target shelves, and I think they'd fly off the shelves.

Unfortunetely, I do think we are in a time of recession where people are looking to cut back and limit spending. The high end lights may disappear from the shelves soon. It's too bad because personally, during times that income is limited, I look for products that will last so they're cheaper in the long run. While the average person thinks a minimag with a 10 hour bulb and 5 hour battery life is the best they can get, I'm using a Fenix L2D Q5 lasting almost 60 hours on low with alkalines(twice as bright as a Mag) with a 50,000 hour l.e.d. running on Eneloops with 1,000 charges.