Sabai's sectional.
SabaiFor the most part, the furniture industry has long-standing manufacturing and production systems in place that favor replacing pieces that may be only a few years old over longevity. It’s a business that has a range of inherent issues, including inefficient supply chains, lack of transparency, and general excess.
“We thought a lot about this. Every year, 90 million tons of furniture waste ends up in the landfill and only 20% is actually recycled,” says Phantila Phataraprasit, 26, co-founder of Sabai, an 11-month-old furniture startup aiming to drastically change how young consumers furnish their homes.
Along with friend and fellow New York University graduate student Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen, 25, the pair grew tired of the cyclical nature of low-quality sofas, beds, and ottomans and decided it was time to design and build the furniture they wanted, responsibly, and within a budget that made sense for their young professional peers.
“Sofas are not something you can live without, so we wanted to make the consumer feel as good about it as possible, being conscious about the planet when making these big purchases,” Phataraprasit says.
Sabai co-founders Phantila Phataraprasit and Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen.
SabaiSabai launched in August 2019 with the goal of resolving some of the most common pollutants in the furniture business: chemicals in composite materials, toxic glues, water-heavy dyes, and an overseas production system that at its core has significant environmental impacts.
“Just because the furniture industry is traditional, the default for most manufacturers is not sustainable,” Phataraprasit says. “There was a lot of research involved and figuring out how to source materials on our own."
THE ITEMS
Along with a range of throw pillows, Sabai currently has three pieces available—a sofa, sectional, and ottoman—all under “The Essential line.”
PRICE
Furniture ranges from $295 for the ottoman to $1,295 for the sofa. Pillows are $40.
DESCRIPTION
Considering that they had no prior furniture industry experience (other than knowing what they liked and didn’t like), what the pair have achieved in a short amount of time is quite remarkable.
They’ve established a tight, design-focused lineup of three quintessential pieces that would fit in just about any home at a price point that’s accessible and scalable. The pieces were designed from scratch and are built in a factory in High Point, N.C.
Sabai uses a velvet made from recycled water bottles and a woven fabric crafted from a waste by-product of petroleum refining that uses no water. While current technology means they have to source these textiles from China, the overall approach is wholly better for the environment than what most of the industry is currently doing.
Sabai's essentail sofa.
Sabai“We built the design of our products by polling friends and family,” de Lisser-Ellen says. “Everyone is so familiar with what they like in a couch, but there was also a good deal of education through our customers who asked about every single detail of our sofa.”
WHAT’S THE GOOD?
Beyond the significant effort to use less impactful materials, Sabai’s mission revolves around creating a quality product, and consuming less over time.
Phataraprasit and de Lisser-Ellen built a return program into the business, offering 20% credit for anyone who returns a piece at the end of its useful life. (They’ve had one return in the company’s short life so far.)
Additionally, they’re putting used furniture into showrooms or gifting to friends and using their digital channels to educate consumers about the available furniture recycling programs across the country.
“For us, it’s about reframing your mindset,” de Lisser-Ellen says. “We’ve tried to add this idea of buying local and with intention into our business model, stimulating local businesses, (which is better) for the planet.”
WHAT’S NEXT
Even with coronavirus causing global supply chain issues, Sabai has been able to generally keep up with orders since most of the product is made in America. The company doesn’t share sales numbers, but they did have 48% sales growth in February and that demand hasn’t dipped as the crisis grew globally.
Phataraprasit and de Lisser-Ellen would like to double or triple current monthly sales while “extending lifetime value with each customer and have them outfit their whole living room with Sabai products within the year.”
Sabai is working to limit “our impact on the environment, both on the front end and the back end of our product’s lifecycle. We’re designing for reconstruction, trying to meet people where they are,” Phataraprasit says.
"furniture" - Google News
July 10, 2020 at 02:02AM
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Good Company: Sabai’s Novel Approach to Sustainable Furniture - Barron's
"furniture" - Google News
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