A supply store that shows its work

Eco Green Zone is opening The Green Store in Memphis: one place to buy the materials a healthier building is made of, and one place to find out what is actually in them.

Why the store exists

Sustainable products are sold badly. A leaf on the packaging, a word like natural, and no number anywhere on the box. The customer is asked to take it on faith, and the contractor who needs the data for a submittal has to email a manufacturer and wait.

We think the fix is boring and obvious. Put the emissions, the materials and the certification on the shelf tag, keep the certificates behind the counter, and let people compare products the way they compare anything else they buy.

Where we are going

Sustainable building and living becoming ordinary across Memphis and the Mid-South, rather than a premium tier. That means stocking what a working contractor can afford to specify on a normal job, not only what shows up on a showpiece building.

Who is behind it

A small team with operational experience and a working knowledge of green building standards, hiring into the rest.

Eric Truitt

Administrator

Extensive experience planning and administering complex operations, with the attention to detail that running a store and its supplier relationships takes.

Operations

Appointment in progress

Leading buying, supplier relationships and the shelf data standard. LEED accreditation expected for this seat.

Finance

Appointment in progress

Responsible for funding, margin and the reporting behind the store's growth into the Mid-South.

How we intend to compete

Against the big box

  • A whole store instead of one aisle
  • Staff who can answer a specification question
  • Product data at the point of sale, in writing
  • Stock chosen for this climate, not a national planogram

Against buying online

  • Touch the floor before it goes in the house
  • Advice that is specific to your building
  • Consistent supply for a crew working every week
  • Somewhere to bring a client to see the material

Come in when we open

Or start the conversation now. Consultations are running ahead of opening, and trade accounts can be set up in advance.