Where are CREE lights in stores?

[Genxsis]

I've been reading alot about Crees and have seen them for low prices on the internet, but I have never made an internet purchase before. I would like to find such lights available in stores such as Kmart, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, etc.

Are any available in these, or other stores like these?

 

[Lobo]

I dont live in the states but think that will be next to impossible to find in brick and mortar stores. Most of the smaller manufacturers that are popular on CPF and fast with new technology can only be bought online. I believe you can't even get Luxeon Fenix lights in regular stores. My guess is that your best hope is to wait until Surefire comes out with their crees (sometime this summer) and get them from your closest Surefire vendor.
But I also think that you shouldn't be afraid of doing internet purchases. If you do it from a reputable dealer (when it comes to light, you can always check here first) you can do great deals safely, on all kinds of stuff!

 

[mdocod]

probably going to be awhile....

the problem is... how do you "market" that the *new* LED is better than the old to the average joe... it's already very hard to get the common public to buy a $30 light because it has a nice LED in it... The other problem is that every flashlight in the store with an LED in it has a chart showing that it is
===================================this much
====better than that kind....

I'm not sure if they can get away with using another chart or not... might start to look like a scam...

other problem is cost, the cree emitters are about 3X as expensive as Lumileds..

 

[2xTrinity]

probably going to be awhile....

the problem is... how do you "market" that the *new* LED is better than the old to the average joe... it's already very hard to get the common public to buy a $30 light because it has a nice LED in it... The other problem is that every flashlight in the store with an LED in it has a chart showing that it is
===================================this much
====better than that kind....

I'm not sure if they can get away with using another chart or not... might start to look like a scam...

other problem is cost, the cree emitters are about 3X as expensive as Lumileds..

That's true. In the case of things like light bulbs, it's required to display the lumens output, and true power consumption, as tested by a third party lab. This way it's possible to compare one brand to another. In the case of LED flashlights, there isn't any way for the customer, who likely isn't an expert on lighting like most on here, to judge if one LED is any brighter than the other, or more efficient than another. Finally, when most people think of LEDs, they probably think of the 5mm LEDs such as those used in the Photon lights -- many people are amazed that as much light can come out of 1 LED as a ridiculous looking 150 LED array.

Unfortunately almost all the LED flashlights available in stores are vastly overpriced/underperforming compared to what is available online. And I don't expect this to change, high end flashlights are really a niche market, and it will be a hard sell to get someone to shell out $30-$50 for a Cree based light in a brick and mortar store even if it's vastly superior in every way to everything else out there.

Really the only brands I've even seen in stores at all here are from battery manufacturers (Energizer, Duracell, Rayovac etc.), Dorcy, Maglite, and in a few cases some store-branded lights (ie Task Force brand at Lowes). And even though those guys probably could easily switch to Cree, I bet they probably have a million old Luxeon lights sitting around, and they'd rather exhaust all of those that they can before moving on to something new and improved. That might take years.

 

[PhantomPhoton]

There won't be Cree lights in stores for awahile. You might see some by summer. CPF is considerably ahead of your average joe consumer. And most cree lights are being manufactured by chinese companies, as they are quicker to respond to the niche market.
As for buying things online, you should give it a try. CPF friendly stores like batteryjunction, lighthound, brightguy, etc. are going to take care of you with customer service that exceeds most retail stores IMO. Learning new things is always good to do.

 

[D@rk Messenger]

There is currently 1 brick and mortar store that sells cree lights that I know of in T dot.


http://www.j2ledflashlight.com/

I don't know where you are but I hope that helps

 

[2xTrinity]

There won't be Cree lights in stores for awahile. You might see some by summer. CPF is considerably ahead of your average joe consumer. And most cree lights are being manufactured by chinese companies, as they are quicker to respond to the niche market.
As for buying things online, you should give it a try. CPF friendly stores like batteryjunction, lighthound, brightguy, etc. are going to take care of you with customer service that exceeds most retail stores IMO. Learning new things is always good to do.

Might want to be careful though, at stores like Dealextreme or Kaidomain -- you'll discover all sorts of neat things for so cheap that you may end up spending a lot more money than you originally intended. For example:

wow, these $10 Cree flashlights are so cheap... I coudl sure use 15 of them stashed all around the house! And coin cell lights for 46.8 cents each? I'll take 100

 

[batvette]

Honestly, if you pay through paypal and buy off ebay and play it safe, never buy from anyone with less than several thousand feedback and ensure they aren't running into a recent negative trend, you're NOT going to get screwed. Many retailers at that level have brick and mortar stores.
I've made over 300 purchases on ebay in 4-5 years, been stiffed just twice back when I paid only with money orders. Won't happen with paypal nearly as easy.
Considering the ridiculous discounts I've gotten off brick and mortar, if I got burned a dozen times I'd STILL be way ahead. Some were a real leap of faith... like a $700 bike frame. MFR price $1150. Seller was a saint.
Go ahead, pay retail. Not me. How about a pair of new Steiner Senator 20x80 binocs, list $1700, lowest price I found anywhere including the internet was $1049... ebay $550. Closeout, new no box but perfect and warranty. Camera dealer in NYC with real store and 45,000 feedback. Shipping is partially offset by paying no sales tax, too.

 

[thehappyman]

I've been reading alot about Crees and have seen them for low prices on the internet, but I have never made an internet purchase before. I would like to find such lights available in stores such as Kmart, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, etc.

Are any available in these, or other stores like these?

They still have lots of 1 and 3 watt led lights in stock that they want to sell before ordering new lights............

 

[Curious_character]

Really the only brands I've even seen in stores at all here are from battery manufacturers (Energizer, Duracell, Rayovac etc.), Dorcy, Maglite, and in a few cases some store-branded lights (ie Task Force brand at Lowes). And even though those guys probably could easily switch to Cree, I bet they probably have a million old Luxeon lights sitting around, and they'd rather exhaust all of those that they can before moving on to something new and improved. That might take years.

Don't know where "here" is, but there are, I believe, quite a few Fry's stores here in the U.S. The local one (Oregon) carries quite a few Inova a few Pelican lights, although not generally the top of the line, and also a lot of Coast products.

But I agree that we probably won't be seeing Cree or Seoul equipped lights in any brick-and-mortar stores for some time, and when we do it won't be the best ones or a very good selection. People who refuse to purchase on the web pay a price for it and will simply have to learn to settle for less.

c_c

 

[tsask]

it's a shame that all kinds of Coast LED lights are available in retail stores like Target, when a far better light like Fenix is not.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

All the Cree lights I have seen or heard of are purchased online

 

[bullinchinashop]

Don't know where "here" is, but there are, I believe, quite a few Fry's stores here in the U.S. The local one (Oregon) carries quite a few Inova a few Pelican lights, although not generally the top of the line, and also a lot of Coast products.

But I agree that we probably won't be seeing Cree or Seoul equipped lights in any brick-and-mortar stores for some time, and when we do it won't be the best ones or a very good selection. People who refuse to purchase on the web pay a price for it and will simply have to learn to settle for less.

c_c

He isn't refusing to purchase online he just hasn't yet. That first time is scary.
Especially on ebay.

 

[LEDninja]

Genxsis where do you live? You could be right next door to 4sevens or mattK or wayne Johnson and not know it.
Fill out the location spot in your profile. Country or if in USA state. City if you don't mind.
As D@rk Messenger pointed out earlier L2 sell Fenix in Toronto & Calgary.
Seriouslights sell them in Saskatoon.
theLEDoutlet.com in Plamondon, AB
Subzero in Vancouver
In addition some sports stores that sells canoes sells them. (a canoe wholesaler decided to distribute them)
If people know roughly where you live, people living in the same town can probably give you better leads.

If you do not want to shop online, many of the doline stores support other forms of payment for mail ordering.
For example at the Fenix Store payment page
http://fenix-store.com/information.php?info_id=4&osCsid=70a4cf8c7c75b80e28c15ec87e1bac05

If you prefer not to use paypal, we take other methods of payment. You can also send a money order/certified bank check, send us a fax of your credit card information, or call us with your credit card number.

While there are many reputable retaillers on ebay (lighthound and seriouslights come to mind) there are a lot of people who sell the cheapest junk they can find. A recent thread is about a stainless steel (wow) Cree (WOW) flashlight. The machining was horrible (YUK).

It takes 2 years for a mass manufacturer to retool a factory and they will not do it unless thay can justify the cost.
It took Mag instruments 25 years to justify the cost of introducing upgrades to their lights. After they announced they have the MagLEDs designed it took them 2 more years to retool the factory and get the lights to the stores.
Nuwai introduced the 1/2 watt leds in some of their lights 2 years ago. Dorcy finally started selling the Cool Blue with them in Sears USA. Was up at Sears Canada. They still have the old model.

It is a lot easier for the low volume manufacturers.
Sandwich Shoppe was the 1st to sell a Cree light. the Aleph A19-XRE. Dat2xip was assembling 4 repeat FOUR lights every day and adding them to the Shoppe site.
Fenix produces their lights in batches of a thousand or 2.
LEDcorp which makes the MJ modified Nichia BS bulbs for the Dorcy Cool Blue list 600,000 bulbs sold. (remember manufacturers are notorious for NOT updating their websites)