DNS Industries builds illuminated display fixtures in Vaughan, Ontario: display cases, shelving walls, light boxes and feature millwork with LED lighting designed into the fixture rather than added on site. Lighting is planned in the shop drawings, built into the millwork, metal and acrylic, and checked before delivery.

Why build the lighting into the fixture

Lighting added on site often leaves visible strips, exposed wires and drivers tucked into cabinets. When it is designed into the fixture, the recessed channels, wiring paths and driver access are cut and assembled in the shop.

What we build

• Lit display cases and showcases: top-down, shelf-edge and back-lit.
• Illuminated shelving walls with shelf-edge or under-shelf lighting.
• Light boxes and back-lit graphics in acrylic, sized to the graphics they carry.
• Lit feature millwork: coves, reveals, niches and back-lit panels.
• Lit counters and cash wraps, including toe-kick and under-counter lighting.

Our work includes backlit product walls and display casework across more than 60 L’Occitane stores in Canada and the United States. See the L’Occitane program.

How the lighting is supplied

There are two common ways to handle LED on a fixture package, and we work with both:

• Built to the lighting specification. Usually the architect or lighting designer specifies the LED and drivers, and we build them into the fixture as specified.
• LED provisions for the site electrician. We build the channels, wiring paths, driver access and power entry into the fixture, and the site electrical contractor completes the wiring and final connections during install.

Electrical equipment installed in Canada must carry a certification mark, such as CSA, cUL or cETL, or a field-evaluation label recognized by the provincial electrical authority; in Ontario that authority is the Electrical Safety Authority. Certified components do not by themselves make a custom assembled fixture an approved product: a custom lit fixture with no mark for the complete assembly may need a field evaluation, for example under CSA SPE-1000, which is meant for custom and limited-quantity equipment. A fixture repeated across a large rollout may be better served by certifying the model. The electrical authority determines the route; we raise it with the project’s electrical consultant during shop drawings, before anything is built. See store fixtures for brands opening in Canada.

What to decide before the fixture is drawn

• Where the light sits: top-down, shelf-edge, back-lit, cove or a combination.
• Colour temperature, chosen for the product and consistent across the store.
• Colour rendering: higher-CRI LED (90 or above is common in retail) helps products, food and skin tones look accurate.
• Diffusion: strip density, channel depth and diffuser chosen so the customer sees an even line of light, not a row of dots.
• Driver locations and access, so a failed driver or strip can be replaced without taking the fixture apart.
• Heat: clearances and ventilation for drivers in closed cabinets, to the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Power entry and switching: where power enters each fixture and how lighting is switched or dimmed.

For display cases specifically, see how to specify a custom display case.

Frequently asked questions

Do you supply the LED lighting?

Usually the project’s lighting specification names the LED and drivers, and we build them in as specified. Alternatively we build the LED provisions into the fixture and the site electrician wires it during install.

Can lighting be added to an existing fixture design?

Yes, at the shop-drawing stage. Channels, wiring paths and driver access are designed into the fixture before it is built.

Can a failed LED strip be replaced?

Yes, where the lighting system allows it. Access to strips and drivers is one of the details we design in, so service does not mean dismantling the fixture.

Do lit fixtures need certification in Canada?

Electrical equipment installed in Canada must carry a certification mark, such as CSA, cUL or cETL, or a field-evaluation label recognized by the provincial electrical authority. Certified components help, but a custom assembled fixture may still need a field evaluation of the complete unit. The project’s electrical consultant confirms the approval route with the local electrical authority; we raise the question at shop-drawing stage.

Planning a lit display or feature wall? Send us your drawings or call 905-761-9568. See all custom display fixtures.