Just below the Upper East Side in Manhattan, Lutron opened its third Experience Showroom, a professional facility used not only as a showcase for the company’s lighting control systems, but also to serve as a hands-on center where dealers and designers alike can bring clients to experience them first-hand.

The showroom, located at 979 Third Avenue, resides on the ground floor of the Decoration & Design (D&S) Building, and is one many showrooms run by the likes of high-end furniture dealers, luxury fabric merchants and fashion designers such as Christian Dior. The 1,800-square-foot facility is not open to the public, but rather the design and architectural community, as well as Lutron’s network of A/V and specialty dealers. These professionals can walk-in during we week, Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM or make appointments (only on Wednesdays and Thursdays).

A spokes person for Lutron, says that already the appointment book has filled up for the first few weeks of operation, exceeding the company’s expectations for initial traffic. Currently the Lutron operates three other Experience Showrooms—in Irvine, California, Plantation, Florida and at its headquarters in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania—but the New York showroom is taking a much different approach.

A smaller facility than the others, the décor and styling of the Manhattan showroom reflects upscale urban apartment and condominium living. The three core lines of Lutron’s lighting control systems—Aurora, RadioRA and Homeworks—operate to convey how lighting scenes can be set up in these environs, along with automatic shade and drapery control (along with an array of fabric selections) options. There is also a “green” section educates customers on how of dimmers and lighting control can save on energy costs and reduce carbon footprint.

Just how effective are these showrooms? Lutron says that close rates for dealers who bring clients into their showrooms is over 90 percent. That’s a pretty convincing argument for why these showrooms work and why Lutron is considering opening more in the future.