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Trex Co. Inc. ( TREX ) has made its foray into the e-commerce marketplace with the launch of its high-performing Trex Outdoor Lighting collection on Amazon.com - the reputed retail website of Amazon.com Inc. ( AMZN ). This will complement Trex's traditional channel strategy, while making the brand and product line available to a wider consumer base.

Trex Outdoor Lighting will be the first product line to be sold by Trex directly on Amazon.com. The website currently sells Trex-branded products available through Trex licensees, including Trex Outdoor Furniture, Trex RainEscape and Trex Pergola,

Trex chose the Outdoor lighting category to be made available on the website because of its wider customer base than the decking contractors and consumers who shop for Trex products at lumber yards and retail centers. The line comprises a Deck Lighting collection recently upgraded with Cree LED components and "plug-and-play" designs for easy assembly, along with an all-new Landscape Lighting collection including well, path, multi-function and spotlight components. Each lighting option scores over traditional incandescent lighting by using 75% less energy and eliminating the concern of voltage drops. In addition, the lights offer durability, weather-proof and salt-air resistant characteristics.

With the increasing inclination of consumers toward online shopping, Trex's move in the area is well timed and a wise move. Amazon.com's wide reach and marketing skills will help Trex to maximize the potential of this product category and also to increase consumer awareness and credibility to the Trex brand. Trex will continue to strengthen its channels of distribution, which is already the strongest in the industry.

Trex's several distributors reported record sales of Trex's products, reflecting its expanded distribution footprint and dealer conversions. Moreover, the company has started realizing the benefits of three cost reduction initiatives that it has been implementing this year. In addition, pent-up demand and market share gains led to a 21% year-over-year increase in second-quarter 2014 earnings to 46 cents. Backed by strong sales activity in the quarter, Trex expects sales of around $92 million in the third quarter, reflecting a y-o-y increase of 27%.

Earlier this year, Trex marked its foray into a new industry that leverages two of its core strengths: recycling and extrusion. Trex is now manufacturing and selling polyethylene pellets made from recycled plastic to the plastic bag, film and sheet markets. These pellets are expected to partially displace virgin and off-spec resin, thereby lowering the cost for original equipment manufacturers.

Trex will benefit from the ongoing economic recovery. Additionally, the company's consistent focus on industry-leading distribution presence, best-in-class product platform, low-cost manufacturing and brand will drive growth. In addition to the outdoor lighting products, introduction of more products online will help boost Trex's revenues.

Winchester, VA-based Trex manufactures and distributes wood/plastic composite products and related accessories, primarily for residential and commercial decking as well as railing applications in the United States.

Currently, Trex carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same sector include Gibraltar Industries, Inc. ( ROCK ) and PGT, Inc. ( PGTI ). Both of these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

AMAZON.COM INC (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report

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Trex Launches Outdoor Lighting Product Line on Amazon - Analyst Blog

As ambulances at a Vacaville hospital speed off to their next patient, an ultrasmart, energy-efficient system is lighting the way. Installed in partnership with the University of California, Davis, the lighting system now illuminates the emergency vehicle routes, parking lots and outdoor walkways of the NorthBay VacaValley Hospital. The system is reducing outdoor lighting energy use at the 24-hour site by 66 percent, saving about 29,000 kilowatt-hours annually -- enough to offset the greenhouse gas emissions of 7.2 tons of waste.

The project is the first comprehensive study of networked adaptive outdoor lighting for the health care sector and could lead the way to more efficient lighting at other hospitals. Adaptive lighting uses tools such as occupancy sensors to adjust lighting to suit activity levels.

This project is an excellent example of UC Davis innovation making an impact beyond the campus, said professor Michael Siminovitch, director of the California Lighting Technology Center at UC Davis. Adaptive lighting systems consistently achieve deep energy savings and reduce facility costs while streamlining maintenance. Hospitals nationwide will benefit by looking to this project as a model.

The outdoor lighting system was first demonstrated at UC Davis. As part of its Smart Lighting Initiative, the university in 2012 unveiled a campuswide exterior lighting retrofit designed by the California Lighting Technology Center that has reduced the campus's exterior lighting energy use by 86 percent (1,231,758 kwh annually), saving at least $120,900 in annual energy and maintenance costs.

At the hospital, a total of 57 lights were replaced with dimmable LEDs. Motion sensors, including a new type of long-range microwave sensor, control the lights so that energy use automatically drops when areas are vacant, yet plenty of light is available when and where staff and visitors need it.

To confirm this, the project team surveyed doctors, nurses, security guards and other hospital staff as part of the study. About 88 percent of those surveyed offered positive feedback on the quality of the new lighting.

Were thrilled to work with UC Davis to put their expertise and technology into action at our facility, said Dave Mathews, senior director of plant operations and general services for NorthBay Healthcare. Its our honor to be part of the first comprehensive study of network adaptive outdoor lighting for the health care sector, potentially transforming the energy efficiency of outdoor hospital lighting nationwide. Not only does this free up more financial resources for patient care, its the right thing to do environmentally.

The lights are also connected to a wireless network lighting control system that lets facility managers monitor energy use, make adjustments and receive alerts when a light requires maintenance.

CLTC recently received an award for its work on the project, winning Best Use of Lighting Controls in a Single Facility from the Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking Campaign. LEEP Campaign winners have saved a total of nearly 45 million kwh and $4 million per year by upgrading to energy-efficient lighting.

The NorthBay VacaValley project is led by CLTC and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in coordination with the Better Buildings Alliance Lighting & Electrical Project Team and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. It was partially funded by Commercial Building Integration within the Building Technologies Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and the U.S. Department of Energy. Siemens served as the energy services company for the project, managing both indoor and outdoor retrofits, facilitating contracting for the work and guaranteeing savings for the hospital.

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University lights the way for hospital energy savings

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Chad Schofield on Bring Me The Maid during Guineas Day at Rosehill Gardens in March. Photo: Getty Images

Trainer Peter Moody holds the group1 trumps on Saturday with Bring Me The Maid at Rosehill Gardens and Dissident in Flemington's Makybe Diva Stakes.

Perhaps Bring Me The Maid will find stablemate Better Land the main danger in the $1million Golden Rose but Moody has a preference for the filly. He figures that in six months Better Land will be superior, but is not as seasoned at this stage as Bring Me The Maid and has applied blinkers to assist the colt.

Fillies have not figured prominently in the Golden Rose but the trainer puts this down to the best of them preferring other spring events.

However, some bookmakers, including Luxbet, will gamble against Bring Me The Maid.

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"Keen to take on the favourite as history shows only one filly, Forensics, a Slipper winner, has been successful and the race that year was held in the autumn due to equine influenza," Luxbet's Tristan De Luca said.

Track conditions will play a role; a slow six is predicted, better than Randwick last Saturday but wet form promises to dominate, which should not inconvenience the Moody pair.

By the 1400-metre Rose, race seven, the pattern will suit Hallowed Crown, a real mudlark. However, Hallowed Crown eased on Betfair trading on Friday from $5.50 to $7, as did Bring Me The Maid ($3.30 to $4.60).

The most significant mover on the betting exchange was Sarajevo, from $23 to $13. When beaten at Rosehill Gardens last start, in the betting ring Sarajevo was about as unpopular as you can get.

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Bring Me The Maid could upset the blue-blood boys in ripper Rose

MONTICELLO, Mississippi -- Authorities say a south Mississippi man was killed when he was mowing his lawn and a car ran off the road and hit him.

Lawrence County Sheriff Joel Thames says Friday that the driver initially fled the scene Thursday evening, but soon returned and was arrested.

Thames says investigators were awaiting results of drug and alcohol tests on the driver, 21-year-old Kedron McClinton of Monticello, who was being held in the Lawrence County jail.

The Daily Leaderreports that the victim was Wade McElroy.

Thames says witnesses reported the car was driving quickly and erratically before it ran off the road and struck McElroy.

He says McClinton did not immediately request an attorney.

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Mississippi man mowing his yard killed when car runs off road, strikes him

Modern dancers, writhing half-naked in front of giant weather-themed video installations. Miley Cyrus, not twerking, but working in a new gig making jewelry with children's beads. A guy mowing a fake indoor lawn in a suit, top hat and fishnet tights. We didn't need to tell you that Fashion Week isn't only about hemlines and tailoring, did we?

Some weird or wonderful (and sometimes both) moments of New York Fashion Week:

BUT WHERE WERE THE CLOTHES?

Making a splashy trip across the pond, British avant-garde designer Gareth Pugh put on a "live immersive fashion experience" involving scantily clad modern dancers undulating in a vast, darkened pier space on the East River that, in daytime, houses seven basketball courts. Guests sipped drinks and snacked on wild mushroom canapes as they followed the dancers from one stage to another, and fog machines billowed. It was all fascinating. But, um, where were the clothes? OK, maybe that wasn't the point.

ONE FAB GARDEN PARTY

Now THIS is how you put on a show. Inside a Chelsea loft, designer Thom Browne created a fantastical garden, filled with models posing as statues, some on stilts. A guy emerged to mow the artificial lawn, wearing a signature Browne shrunken suit with shorts, top hat and fishnet tights, because, why not? Actress Diane Keaton, on the soundtrack, read a bedtime story. Penned by the designer himself, the story was about six sisters, all with different fashion tastes. Models brought the story to life and their clothes were an explosion of whimsy, color and really great tailoring.

MILEY'S NEW GIG

Who knew? Miley Cyrus is a designer, too. The pop singer hooked up with bad-boy designer Jeremy Scott to present her handmade creations chunky necklaces, drop earrings and headgear like tiaras and embellished dunce caps, all composed of stuff you can buy in a toy store, like alphabet beads and furry pom-poms. "Miley was up all night finishing them," Scott said backstage after the runway show, where he had scooped Miley from her seat and brought her on a victory lap.

A KARDASHIAN THEME

No Fashion Week is complete without some sort of Kardashian. No Kim or Kanye this time, but young model Kendall Jenner, Kim's half-sister, continued her ascent, appearing on high-profile runways like those of Diane von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan. "I had no idea who she was," Karan confessed after the show. "I mean, I knew who she was, but I didn't know who she WAS."

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Some weird & wonderful moments of New York Fashion Week (photos)

Belvedere Landscape Designer and Belvedere Landscape Architect - Mystical Landscapes, Belvedere
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