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.

“Why Pay More.. Shop for Less”

“Why Pay More When You Can Buy For Less?”
When did we start this mentality? Oh, I understand finding that real gem of a deal. They do occur. But usually if it seems to good to be true (are you hearing your mother’s voice yet?)… then it is.

Our business is furniture. One side of it is in custom building and restoration and the other is retail. Right now we are restoring a mahogany dining set that is over 100 years old. Boy, is it going to look beautiful when it is done! The interesting thing is how well it is made. It has held up all of these years because of the craftsmanship. Fast forward to how a lot of the furniture is made today. Think about it. When did we start settling for “planned obsolescence” furniture?

Okay, I get budgets. You don’t have to buy the $15,000 dining set. Do the research. Ask the questions. Inform yourself and buy the best made you can possibly afford. What do you really save, if you buy a “bargain” that starts having major issues within a few years? Let’s move this from furniture.

When you shop for clothes do you check out the seams and hems to see how well it was made? When you are thinking about buying a computer do you grab the first you see in your price range or do you ask about memory, processing speed, software and peripherals? Looking for a good used car? Do you have a mechanic, you trust, look at it and go for a test drive? I will bet that you do a lot of these things when buying a used car, a computer or shopping for clothes. This is because you have taught yourself what to look for.

In this age of little truth in advertising and “secret surprises” inside your furniture, like particle board and “visually enhanced” finishes, doesn’t it behoove you to study up a bit? A surprise is good when you wait for birth to learn of the gender of your baby. It is not good when you pay a bunch of hard earned cash for something that will collapse when Uncle Bill sits on it.

The worth of our money will mean even more to us after we make it through this economic hole. I suggest that we become savvy on how we use it.