Two New Trends That Have Eco Impact

There are two trends that we are finding across all markets (not exclusive to furniture) as we slowly emerge from the economic crunch. Both can be considered “green”.

The first is the rise in internet shopping. Whether it is because of the rising price of gasoline or simply due to the convenience and proliferation of computers, smart pads and smart phones- more people are doing their searches and shopping online. We have seen it personally but also article after article backs up our observations. Internet sales are up. Brick and mortar (the trade term for ‘stores’) sales are still struggling. The trends strongly indicate businesses that have a strong internet presence are in a better financial position and can offer their customers more.

The second trend is that there is more demand for customization and people are looking for quality in their purchases. I am not sure if this is because we are thirty to forty years into a trend of settling for a homogenized quality level. Perhaps it is because of so much of what we buy is made off shore and consumers are questioning the policy and quality of current furniture being offered.

This doesn’t mean that the personal customer service is out. It all depends upon the site. There are two that we deal with that are good examples. www.20besttwenty offers less per category than many sites but each item is carefully selected by them. Like a juried art show. They work hard to select the very best and have built their reputation for that. www.zecozi.com is green conscious. They have a following of loyal customers that interact with their site – sharing what their favorites are.

Customization and customer service are at our foundation. By doing things the way we do means we work in an eco-friendly manner. We listen carefully to the customer and build what they want specifically. www.barbofurniture.com has several pages dedicated to this theme.. yet still don’t show everything we have made or are capable of building. We are increasing our web presence and are carefully selecting sites we can work with.

Both trends are green. People are not as willing to settle for something that will.. get by. By taking this mindset they are doing their homework, purchasing once and throwing away less.

Landfill Furniture: Part 2

I promised to update you as I get more information. Though all of the data are public domain the pieces have to ferreted out and put together. My friend Alfred and I continue to try to assimilate all of this. The numbers are large and these findings I report today are only preliminary. What I have today is another glimpse of the bigger picture.

Between 1960 and 2008 the population of the United States has grown 69%. The number of households has increased 94% in the same time due to each household being statistically smaller. The amount of upholstered furniture we are throwing away into landfills has increased six times from the 1960 figures to those of 2008. Though the numbers have increased each decade the real jump occurred in the 1980’s and has climbed since then.

There are some assumptions that can be made. 1) In the 1960’s the furniture thrown away had probably already lasted well over twenty years so the quantity tossed out was less. At that time the furniture made was mostly solid wood or, at least, plywood. The construction techniques commonly included multiple and frequent use of corner blocks, mortise and tenon connecting joints and wood glue. People at that time demanded quality. 2) In the mid 1980’s several of the furniture factories moved from the Great Lakes area and the Carolinas to Mississippi and Texas. It was the beginning of trying to make furniture for less. The country had a mind set of deserving the best for less. It was in this decade and into the next that the demand for lower prices pushed furniture companies “off shore” to take advantage of cheaper labor. At the same time the quality of materials dropped. Particle board and MDF replaced solid wood and plywood as the norm because it was cheaper. Corner blocks, mortise and tenon as strengthening construction techniques took longer. Time was money. The older glue was substituted with hot glue because it was faster. It didn’t really matter if it was more brittle and would not last as long. The change was that people accepted the lesser quality and the much shorter life span of the furniture as unobjectionable and the price you pay for being trendy.

We are continuing to gather information and run the numbers. What we have thus far is is staggering and hard to get our minds around. Please stay tuned. We are gathering and refining more information.