Hickory Springs touts eco-friendly components
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, April 20, 2009
HICKORY, N.C. — Industry supplier Hickory Springs is launching a merchandising campaign aimed at telling upholstery buyers what's under the covers.
Similar to the “Intel Inside” program with personal computers, the “Earth Care Inside” effort will call attention to the sustainable and repurposed materials the company uses in the components it supplies to makers of sofas, chairs and other seating.
Hickory Springs officials think the message will appeal to a growing number of environmentally conscious consumers. The company is using the week of Earth Day (April 22) to announce the effort and plans a major rollout in May.
Hickory Springs was looking for a way to take its soy-based Preserve foam, bundle it with all its other recycled and sustainable components, and “tell a story that the manufacturer, retailers and, hopefully, the consumer will embrace. That's the whole concept for this,” said Dwayne Welch, executive vice president for sales and marketing.
He said he expects Earth Care Inside to appeal to the “female shopper, driving the hybrid car, ordering organic fruits and vegetables for her children. Wouldn't it be nice if we could educate her on the retail floor as to what's in that piece of furniture?”
According to Welch, upholstery is sold from the outside in. Earth Care Inside would give retailers an inside-out story as another selling tool, he said.
While the company's Preserve foam was the catalyst for the idea, Earth Care Inside also will refer to Hickory Springs' fiber products and synthetic cottons, recycled steel sinuous and coil springs, sofa-sleeper mechanisms, motion hardware, edge roll, webbing and other components that are considered earth-friendly. The company also is working on new products that will fit the category.
To call attention to the eco-components, Hickory Springs will supply manufacturers with a decorative brass, polished nickel or bronze nail head with the Earth Care logo that can be added to an upholstered piece. The company also has a plethora of point-of-purchase goodies for retailers.
A new Web site at www.earthcareinside.com will support the program. It features Hickory Springs President Don Coleman detailing the company's commitment to a clean environment, and HGTV host Jim Parks introducing users to the workings of the Earth Care Inside materials. The site will include factoids, trivia questions and other information about the environment, plus a link to Welch for consumer questions.
In addition, the company has hired veteran designer Jack Lewis to develop scaled-down upholstered furniture products using Hickory Springs' components that save materials by using less of them.
Welch said the Earth Care Inside components will be subjected to outside testing to back up claims that they're sustainable and environmentally friendly.
While Hickory Springs' branding initiative is aimed at the manufacturer and retailer, its bulls-eye is the consumer.
“When she's out shopping and sees a sofa properly tagged, she'll migrate toward a product she can feel good about and have some piece of mind,” Welch said.
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