About Seascape Lamps
Seascape Lamps has been manufacturing urban, contemporary, modern and retro mid-century lighting for 25 years. The product line consists of chandelier lighting fixtures, table and floor lamps, chandeliers, fabric, wood veneer, silk, lampshade hanging pendants and wall sconces. Seascape Lamps, led by designer Mike Shenk, offers a mix of urban retro contemporary modern lighting with a twist of Asian and Caribbean influence. They also offer a huge collection of table lamps, floor lamps, contemporary and hanging pendant lamp fixtures in the retro - modern -contemporary - signature style which has made Seascape Lamps so unique in the lighting industry. Seascape Lamps has now expanded their lighting into retro - modern - contemporary - mid century wall sconces and ceiling pendants.
What makes Seascape Lamps so unusual are its interesting lamp shade materials. These lamp shade fabrics include wood veneers, acrylics, linens, mica, woven bamboos, woven grasses and dupioni silk lampshades. All these materials make excellent hanging pendant lamps and shades which the company makes in many custom retro contemporary modern lamp shade sizes and styles. Because Seascape Lamps does most of it’s manufacturing in their California-based lighting studio, they are capable of customizing lighting to meet your specific design needs. With their fantastic array of eclectic lighting products, it’s hard to not find something in the line that fits into your store or home.
A native Californian, Mike Shenk is the owner of Seascape Lamps, which is both a wholesale and an e-commerce business selling contemporary modern and retro pendants, sconces, floor and table lamps and hanging lamp shades. Housed in 8,000 square feet of space in two warehouses on Lee Rd. in Watsonville, CA,. Seascape Lamps comprises offices, and a lighting fixture and portable table lamp studio production facility. Nearly all of the production work is done on the premises, which includes making and wiring the lamp shades staining and lacquering the wooden bases and adding brushed-metal finishes.
In 1985, Mike Shenk gave his business its current name - Seascape Lamps. He brought on independent sales representatives to increase business, and early customers included Neiman Marcus and Crate & Barrel. The wholesale part of the business accounts for nearly all of the current sales, with hotels and design firms leading the way. Seascape Lamps can be found in certain hotels within the Marriott, Westin, Hilton, Radisson and Four Seasons hotel chains. Typically, the lamps are purchased for placement within the individual hotel rooms. Shenk said he even has some of his creations in Starbucks locations. In the immediate area, Saffron & Genevieve in Santa Cruz, is the only local store to sell Seascape Lamps. "I like the fact that they're locally made, and I can speak with the owner to customize things," said Colleen Hickey, owner of Saffron & Genevieve. "It's an easy way to have a unique lamp because you can customize the pattern, the color, and the lamp shade."
Shenk said he comes up with about 60 new designs a year. He estimated that Seascape Lamps offers 120-130 different styles to choose from. Online, retail prices for table lamps, floor lamps, wall sconces and hanging chandeliers, pendant fixtures lighting ranges from $99-$850. The lamp shades have wood veneers natural fiber and dupioni silk as the material. Solid wood is used for the wooden lamp bases and is stained in a multitude of colors. "Walnut is the best-selling finish, with tangerine the most popular color and hanging lamps the most popular style", Shenk said. He added that he has a good response from advertising in home decor magazines like Elle Decor, Metropolitan Home, Modernism, Atomic Ranch, but he plans on subcontracting out work to increase traffic to his Internet site. His goal is to dramatically increase online sales and is having his Website overhauled. Mike sells his lamps to prop houses and has noticed his creations in television shows and movies, such as "Legally Blonde" as well as a few Robert De Niro films. He also has donated lamps to ABC-TV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition". Shenk, who said he wanted to be "20 million different things when growing up", is content with his chosen career path. "You try and carve out a unique niche for yourself; lighting is functional art - people always need lamps", Shenk said. "The question is whether they want to spend $300 to $400 for a lamp or go to a national chain store and spend $39.99", he said. "It depends on how much money you have and how important it is to you."
Seascape Lamps
OWNER: Mike Shenk.
WHAT: An e-commerce business selling mid-century contemporary and retro modern lighting.
WHERE: 125-A Lee Rd., Watsonville, CA.
INFORMATION: (831) 728-5699.
FAX: (831) 728-0658.
EMPLOYEES: 16 full-time.
ONLINE RETAIL PRICES: Range from $99-$850 for table lamps hanging pendant fixtures, floor lamps and wall sconces.