Green is good, but must be affordable
Carole Sloan, Senior Contributing Editor -- Furniture Today, March 18, 2007
We've been interested in what seems to be the newest buzz in furniture — "green" products.
That topic is expected to be much discussed at next week High Point Market, as well it should be. We all need to be aware of and perhaps participate in this effort.
Almost nothing in our industry is truly new, and green marketing long has titillated many furniture folks. And the interest goes well beyond furniture. Green approaches to manufacturing and selling in many realms seem to appeal to many consumers, here and abroad.
The quest to save our environment seems to surge every decade or so, with efforts ranging from new architectural designs and constructions to new ways to rehabilitate old buildings, and new stuff like solar panels and the recycling of all sorts of things previously discarded.
But with consumer products like clothing, furniture and sheets and towels, there's always a relationship between price and value. Perhaps well-heeled consumers will be willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products because they understand the value, but low-income people likely will not.
And there's more. In home textiles, for instance, there's not enough organic cotton being grown to supply even a fraction of the stuff that claims to be organic, much less supply Wal-Mart with what it says will be "green" products in its stores.
In other words, there will be real issues of believability and trust.
Such retailers as Crate & Barrel and ABC Carpet & Home recently have moved towards using and selling renewable, sustainable product. If that spreads to a broader retail base, it could have a major impact on consumer products for the home.
The key to spreading the word and creating consumer awareness and participation is not to go for the exotic and unique, but to offer products that easily can be understood and, most of all, afforded by mainstream consumers.
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