Potpourri was founded in 1963 and published one consumer catalog. Through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, Potpourri Group, Inc. (PGI) now produces 18 titles and serves millions of customers each year. The Billerica, MA based company has grown to become one of the most successful multi-brand direct-to-consumer merchants in the United States.

Potpourri Group, Inc. produces thousands of catalog pages each year; accurate color representation of the products they sell is essential. To ensure accurate color representation, and to achieve visual agreement with their printer, PGI makes all their color decisions under ISO 3664:2009 viewing conditions. Until 2021 PGI used what they had––five viewing tables, all different 20–30-year-old GTI models––linked together to create a 22′ row of the ISO 3664:2009 conditions they needed.

In January 2021, Potpourri Group, Inc.’s prepress manager Jeff Elsing wanted to update his collection of viewing booths to not only establish a more consistent physical look between the stations, but to also take advantage of the benefits of GTI’s new LED technology. GTI presented two possible solutions to Potpourri Group, Inc.

The first option was to upgrade Potpourri Group, Inc.’s existing viewers to LED technology. GTI’s president Robert McCurdy states, “We are pleased to offer users the ability to upgrade their older booths to LED technology. We offer two levels of field upgrades, or users can ship their luminaire back to GTI and we will upgrade it for them.” Due to PGI’s variety of booth models on-site, this option would require several different upgrade paths, including swapping luminaires and rewiring existing luminaires to accommodate the new technology.

The second option was to purchase new LED viewing booths. GTI proposed five new CVX-3052 color viewing stations with LED lamps and floor stands. The CVX-3052/LED/FS is an LED viewing station with a 29″ deep x 52″ wide viewing area. It includes LED lamps, LiteGuard lamp tracking, side walls, a print bar, and a height-adjustable (at set-up) floor stand. The new LED viewers provide longer relamp times and greater energy efficiency.

This was the clear choice for Jeff, who ordered five new CVX-3052/LED/FS viewing stations that were delivered and installed in June 2021. Recommended relamping times have tripled, going from 2,500 hours of use to 7,500 hours. The five old viewers required 840 watts of energy, whereas the five new LED viewers require only 390 watts of energy––and the new lamps do not contain any hazardous chemicals.

Jeff Elsing comments, “I couldn’t be happier with our decision to upgrade to LED. We are longtime GTI customers and have always been pleased with the quality of their products and the level of service they provide. From my initial call to delivery, everything went very smoothly. The new viewers not only provide a professional appearance that impresses Art Directors and Merchandise Buyers, but more importantly, the quality and consistency of light from the viewers is excellent. Our staff is very confident making their color decisions under the new GTI LED lights. Having the new GTI LED viewers also helped us improve our visual color agreement with our printer.”