Two Western retailers say sustainability appeals to shoppers
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, November 19, 2001
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — When they shop for furniture, do consumers really care about the sustainability of raw materials?
While some don't, it means a great deal to others, according to two Western furniture sellers.
"We have a well-educated, high-end customer. They're typically well traveled and understand the importance of renewable resources," said John Billington, president and chief executive officer of retailer-manufacturer Five Rivers, which has two high-end furniture stores in the Boise, Idaho, area.
South Cone is one of the company's largest vendors. Five Rivers also uses exotic woods to make its own line of custom furniture, which accounts for about 10% of sales. Like South Cone, Five Rivers only uses woods certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as coming from sustainable forests.
"Our customers are intrigued by how this wood makes its way to Idaho, and happy to know we aren't cutting down the rain forest when we use lesser-known species," Billington said.
Five Rivers presents an environment-friendly story in both its advertising and on hangtags.
"We put in enough information to engage the customer," said Billington. "The sales staff is educated about how (certification) works, and gets involved in the education of the consumer about where the wood comes from."
He said Five Rivers fully supports South Cone's efforts, and hopes more suppliers will look at where and how they source raw materials.
In Colorado, HW Home has furniture stores in Boulder and nearby Broomfield, plus an antiques, floral and interior design store. Co-owner Ron Werner said initiatives such as PaTS are a natural among consumers there.
"Boulder itself has the most aggressive and successful open space program in the country," he said. "The city has purchased more land to preserve undeveloped than there is developed in Boulder itself."
Consumers tend to be savvy and concerned when it comes to issues like survival of tropical forests.
"We have customers who actually ask questions about how a piece of furniture is made and where the wood came from, especially if they hear it's from South America," Werner said. "We back programs like (South Cone's) first because it's the right thing to do, and second because our customers appreciate it. They get an heirloom-quality piece of furniture and know they aren't stripping the forest to get it."
Boulder has a progressive reputation, but Fiver Rivers' Billington said programs like South Cone's play well even in conservative states like Idaho, since they put a positive face on environmentalism.
"On one hand, when you say environmentalism it means driving spikes in old growth trees, and depriving someone of a living," he said. "But here you don't have someone trying to force an environmental issue."
Manufacturer, retailer and consumer all choose to look for woods harvested responsibly, he said.
