Every time The Light Bulb Shop Manager Kelly McGary walks into a room, she said she notices the lights.
Kelly runs the day-to-day operations of the Allandale shop her parents, Edwin and Traci McGary, have owned since she was 5 years old.
The Light Bulb Shop sells everything from sewing machine bulbs to the fixtures that light The University of Texas tower.
Edwin got into the light bulb business in the early 1980s as the owner of Lamar Wholesale Supply Inc. off North Burnet Road. As the demand for expert knowledge of lighting grew, so did the McGarys’ business, and they relocated several times, Kelly said.
Edwin eventually renamed the business to The Light Bulb Shop and relocated to its current location at 6318 Burnet Road, Austin, in January 2001.
Kelly said that while she was growing up, she was resistant to going into the family business. But about eight years ago, her father asked her to design the shop’s website and then slowly began giving her more responsibilities until Kelly was managing the counter, ordering bulbs in bulk and educating customers on energy efficiency.
“It’s in my blood,” she said of her light bulb knowledge. “I’ve completely absorbed it.”
Kelly said one of the challenges of running a light bulb shop is teaching the employees about the more than 80,000 light bulbs in stock.
The Light Bulb Shop workers pride themselves on their customer service, she said. Customers do not have to wander the aisles aimlessly because employees can enlighten them on the quality, brand, type, size, wattage and color of a bulb.
“We look at [light bulbs] differently,” said Kelly, explaining a lot of her job involves problem solving—from figuring out how to find the rare light bulb that will fit a customer’s decades-old projector in time for Christmas with the family to what light bulb color matches a customer’s newly painted living room walls.
“I love how loyal our customers are,” she said. “People know us, and they love us.”
Light Bulb Ed was designed in the early 2000s by Austin-based Blue Genie Art to look like The Light Bulb Shop owner Edwin McGary.But the suited, dark-haired man who is perched atop the shop barely resembles its blond owner, according to Kelly.
She said in 2012, Light Bulb Ed—also referred to as “The Head” by customers—received a makeover, and a change in skin and hair color made him unrecognizable to employees and customers.
Kelly said she plans to commission Blue Genie Art in the future to revert Light Bulb Ed back to his original features, but for now, her biggest concern is keeping the pigeons away from his head.[/caption]
Who is Light Bulb Ed?
Light Bulb Ed was designed in the early 2000s by Austin-based Blue Genie Art to look like The Light Bulb Shop owner Edwin McGary.
But the suited, dark-haired man who is perched atop the shop barely resembles its blond owner, according to Kelly.
She said in 2012, Light Bulb Ed—also referred to as “The Head” by customers—received a makeover, and a change in skin and hair color made him unrecognizable to employees and customers.
Kelly said she plans to commission Blue Genie Art in the future to revert Light Bulb Ed back to his original features, but for now, her biggest concern is keeping the pigeons away from his head.
