10 Questions for . . . Steve Feldman, President of Green Demolitions[SIZE=-1]In this installment of 10 Questions for . . . , Senior Editor Daniel DiClerico talks to Steve Feldman (shown below), founder of Green Demolitions, a nonprofit organization that recycles and then sells appliances and materials from kitchens, raising money for a 12-step-program charity. Feldman discusses the origin of the operation and the many people it benefits.
Where did you get the idea for Green Demolitions?I was fund-raising in Greenwich, Connecticut, in March 2001. One of my donors lived next door to Farah Pahlavi, the last empress of Iran. She had lived for 10 years in a beautiful 10,000-square-foot estate. I'd seen the home from the street in the past, but on this day a sign in the driveway said a demolition was in progress. I walked up the driveway and the house was a pile of rubble and brick. I stood there staring at the pile and thought to myself, Why not start a demolition donation program for the outreach projects I was fund-raising? I started talking to contractors and real-estate agents in the area, and they thought the idea had merit.
How does the process work?
A prospective donor contacts our office, where one of our coordinators gets the details of the job--what items are available, what condition they're in, etc. We'll often request pictures to get a sense of how much time would be required for the removal. We can't accept all donations. As an entrepreneurial charity, we have to operate like a business, meaning there has to be a resale value to the items or we won't make a profit. If we accept the project, an inspector visits the site, takes more photos, and fills out a detailed report. Then we issue a donation agreement, order the insurance, and send in a crew for the dismantling. Most jobs are done in a day. The items are inventoried and we leave behind a hand-written receipt, which is followed up with a typed receipt indicating the fair-market value of all contributions so that donors can claim the proper deduction.
What do people gain by donating their kitchens?The biggest financial gain is definitely the deduction?we've sold a single kitchen for as much as $36,000. But another big incentive is the savings in labor costs. Our crew handles all the dismantling, and if they don't have the knowledge and skills required, we'll bring in a specialty crew. We did a Park Avenue apartment in New York City recently where I hired a marble specialist to remove the antique fireplaces. "Restoration removal" we call it. A third benefit for donors is reduced disposal cost. Each Dumpster on a job costs $600 or $700, even more in cities.
Besides homeowners, where else do the donations come from?
We also have retail donors, for example kitchen companies that have in-store displays of discontinued inventory. Another source is wholesale distributors. I recently worked out an arrangement with the exclusive American distributor of a major European appliance line. We'll be receiving a truckload of top-quality discontinued or display models. Donations also come straight from manufacturers, whether returns, discontinued models, or overstock. We're also the national charity of the National Kitchen & Bath Association's annual trade show, the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show. At the end of every show, exhibitors can load their wares straight from the floor onto our Green Demolition trucks. The companies save a bundle on warehouse space and disposal cost. I've heard of entire exhibits getting demolished and thrown in the Dumpster, product and all. Green Demolition is a cheaper way to go and keeps the product out of landfills.
Essential information: Learn how to properly dispose of household items when you're remodeling and read about Home Depot's new recycling program for compact fluorescent lightbulbs.
Who buys the donated goods?
It's a very special crowd.Certainly do-it-yourselfers are a large part of our clientele. It'salso architects and kitchen designers who have gotten a taste for thelifestyle they serve and want it for themselves. It's hard to go backto laminate countertops after designing granite kitchens! But at GreenDemolitions, you can have a $100,000 kitchen for $25,000, $15,000, even$10,000, depending on the retrofit. Then there's the green customerbase, people who are committed to the idea of using recycled productsand materials. Lastly you have the bargain hunters who refuse to payretail for anything. We recently sold a $20,000 hand-painted sink andfaucet set for $2,900. These people are using Green Demolitions to makeserious equity improvements to their homes.
How many stores do you have?
We have three locations. Ourlargest store is in Norwalk, Connecticut, with 11,000 square feet. Wealso have a store in Bethel, New York, with 5,000 square feet,including a luxury appliance outlet. The store in Holmsdale,Pennsylvania, has 5,200 square feet.
Can homeowners beyond the New York metro area participate?
Absolutely.When you're talking about a kitchen that might be worth $80,000 thatyou pick up for $10,000, the cost of shipping is minimal, even if youhave to hire a professional mover. A couple years ago, somebody fromWashington state had seen a $15,000 European range on our site. Theywere able to get it for $5,000, so they made the arrangement to truckit out west. Another time, three women from Kentucky drove up in aU-Haul truck, toured all three stores, and eventually filled the truck.Unfortunately, remote shoppers can't click and buy off our website--theaverage shelf life of a kitchen is one to seven days, so we could neverkeep up. But the site is good for getting a general idea about what'savailable.
You mentioned retrofitting. Is it hard making an old kitchen fit a new space?
Obviouslythe kitchen you see on our site or in our store won't be designed foryour space. But kitchens are basically modular, so it's mostly a matterof reconfiguring the cabinets, like the custom units that found a newhome in a country-style kitchen (shown above). I've heard a lot ofcontractors say, "I can make anything fit." Homeowners also getcreative. If they have a cabinet left over, they might turn it into abathroom vanity or use it for additional storage in the pantry orgarage. You can also go piecemeal. If we have a beautiful, showcasekitchen, we probably won't sell something integral, like the basecabinets. But a lot of times you can buy just the island or just therange.
Are there issues with aftermarket appliances that you warn shoppers about?
It'slike buying something off the Internet, or at auction or a flea market.It's the buyer's risk. So if someone wants a guarantee, we can'tprovide it. We do inspect items?if it's a refrigerator we'll plug itin and see if turns cools down. But we sell everything as is. Thatsaid, there are a lot of repair people out there, and we never sellitems for more than 50 percent of their original value. So even ifyou're out the cost of the repair, you're still way ahead.
What happens to the proceeds?
Proceeds from Green Demolitions?$1,008,571 in 2007?fund the outreach program for All Addicts Anonymous,a 12-step program that's adapted to all addictions, including drugs,alcohol, depression, and food addiction. The publishing arm of AllAddicts Anonymous, 24 Communications, is also funded by the proceeds.
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