
Ruby and quiri mattress sale trial#
The old kettles “still boil water, so they hate to get rid of them,” she said, “but a lot of the teakettles they’re just tired of or don’t like the looks of anymore.”ĭuring a trial run of Chantal’s teakettle trade-in program in August, Ms.

Maryann Samsa, the housewares buyer at Kitchen Kaboodle, an independent retailer with five locations in Portland, Ore., says customers have lately been reluctant to buy kettles. Guilt over new purchases can occur even with smaller items. GREENER HABITS Customers receive a $25 gift card at Ruby & Quiri for trading in a used item like this box spring being broken down for recycling by Bill Rose, left, and Gary Buboltz. She said she and her husband were motivated not just by the reduced cost but also by the chance to have the old couch put to good use. One factor in the appeal of these programs, say store managers who have tried them, is the relief it provides consumers from a vexing emotion: the guilt of conspicuous consumption.ĭao Engle of New Canaan, Conn., recently bought a new sofa for her home office through the trade-in program at Lillian August, which started Aug. Certainly cash for clunkers worked much better than $5,000 off a car. He said successful promotions “are things that haven’t been tried before. “The traditional sales tools 25 percent off or layaways or financing they’re not working right now,” said Warren Shoulberg, the editor of Home Furnishings News, an industry magazine. Similar programs have sprung up in places like Portland, Ore., and Lexington, Ky., along with variations like Credit for Clunkers at 1-800-Mattress, Cash for Couches at Lillian August in Connecticut, and what some retailers are calling Cash for Teakettles, which Chantal Cookware Corp.

The clunker is picked up when the new item is delivered, and depending on its condition is either donated or broken down for recycling.Īt Pacific Manufacturing in Phoenix, which sells custom upholstered goods to interior designers, a used piece of furniture earns clients 10 percent off the purchase of any new furniture item or mattress and, after the clunker is delivered to a local charity, a tax-deduction receipt. Now, an array of home furnishing retailers and manufacturers are hoping to capitalize on similar motivations by introducing trade-in programs for everything from outdated entertainment centers to stained ottomans and used mattresses.Īt Ruby & Quiri, a family-run home furnishings center in Johnstown, N.Y., customers receive a $25 gift card for every piece of used furniture they turn in, or $50 for upgrading an appliance to an Energy Star model. It was a potent concept that mixed financial incentives with the emotional appeal of unloading a burdensome possession and getting something new in return and maybe improving the planet in the process. There was also the convenience of accomplishing all this in a single transaction.

THERE were many reasons the federal government’s cash-for-clunkers program this summer was wildly popular: consumers loved the idea of saving on a new car, helping the environment and ensuring future savings on fuel.
