"They found a 19th-century house on Legare Street and began to renovate. But they needed lights — exterior and interior fixtures..."

"... and nothing seemed quite right. A design problem morphed into an idea for a business. Could the Dawsons make the lighting themselves? Should they try? They learned that many of the companies that had been in the lighting business either had moved their manufacturing facilities overseas or had shut down. 'The zeitgeist was that American manufacturing was done,' Mr. Dawson told Business of Home, a trade publication, in 2019. 'You could take two different conclusions from that. One is that there’s no market — maybe this is a really bad idea, no one else wants to do it and you should stay away. Or two, there’s an opportunity here.' In 2002, they bought a small but storied workshop in Charleston from a coppersmith named John Gantt. He had been making gas lanterns for the city’s historical houses for decades and was ready to retire...."

From "Dave Dawson, Co-Founder of Bespoke Lighting Company Urban Electric, Dies at 53/He and his wife knew nothing about the business when they decided to produce lighting in Charleston, S.C. Their company became a beacon of American manufacturing" (NYT)(gift link).