Lovesac Official Company Blog

Environment Furniture or Furniture for the Environment?

Celebrating Earth Day this week, we, at Lovesac HQ were discussing how little we’ve done to share with our friends the environmentally friendly aspects of our eco friendly furniture: Sacs and Sactionals…both of which are sustainable furniture products.

We are so obsessed with environment furniture—that is, utilizing our furniture’s, shape, texture, and color to create the right environment for your family and friends to enjoy their life on a couch, that we often simply forget to address the other meaning of the word “environment.”

What is Eco-Friendly Furniture?

First, let it be said that there are many and varying degrees of so-called eco friendly furniture on the market today. There is really no governing body that dictates the use of the phrase “eco friendly” or “environmentally friendly.” There are a many different standards or guidelines that have been published with recommendations on how to be environmentally friendly, how to be eco friendly, and how to develop environmentally conscious companies. These (typically) self-published standards typically cover the following aspects of sustainability and environmentally friendliness:

• Materials
• Energy & Atmosphere
• Human & Ecosystem Health
• Social Responsibility

It is unfortunate, to say the least, that a topic so important (our planet), and a category so large (furniture), does not have a more mature solution to promote or even police the use of sustainable and eco friendly, carbon-neutral, or environmentally friendly furniture products. As standards in this area develop, it is Lovesac’s intention to become a leader in this category—and an active promoter of sustainable practices and environmentally friendly lifestyles. The emerging standard that we like the best and intend to use as our benchmark for success in this area is the Level certification for furniture—developed by our friends at BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association).

We like BIFMA standards in general and we develop our Sactionals to conform to their standards even though our products were originally designed for consumer use in the home—not as an industrial product. But by adhering to the standards set for industrial and commercial-use products, we are able stand behind our Lifetime Guarantee and our quality promise to consumers. By these standards, Lovesac makes:

• eco friendly couches (sofas)
• eco friendly bean bags
• eco friendly kids furniture
• eco friendly home
• eco friendly patio furniture
• eco friendly outdoor furniture

Put simply, we believe in eco friendly furniture

Without getting into too many boring details about the source of the wood in the Sactionals frames or the working conditions of our factories (which are world-class, of course), we offer up four key details about Sacs and Sactionals that are important for consumers who might be interested in buying Lovesac products to know concerning the eco friendly nature of Sacs and Sactionals.

1. Sactionals and Sacs come packed in a way that is a fraction of their original volume. Sactionals cushions and back pillows come packed up inside of the otherwise hollow hardwood base frames. Naked Sacs are vacuum compressed to 1/8 their original volume and shipped inside of high-tension duffels. This signature “shrinking” of Lovesac’s key products is a literal shrinking of our carbon footprint. Put simply: we are able to ship more than 450 Sactionals Pieces on a truck that typically fits no more than 45 traditional sofa-sets from a traditional furniture brands. Sacs and Sactionals are eco friendly furniture.
2. Sacs are filled with recycled foam. Traditional furniture brands cut their sofa cushions from large “buns” of virgin polyurethane foam. The foam in the cushions and the foam beneath the upholstery on all parts of a traditional sofa are all very blocky and fixed shapes. This creates tons (literally tons) of wasted scraps of foam. Lovesac buys these randomly shaped pieces of wasted scrap foam and shreds it up to create our trademarked Durafoam blend of varying densities recycled furniture foam. We shred thousands of pounds of this recycled foam each day. Much of this foam could have other wise ended up in land-fills, domestic and abroad.
3. Sactionals cushions are upholstered in fabric that is woven so tightly, it conforms to the new flame-resistance standards of the State of California (TB117-2013) without any chemical treatment. For this reason, the foam inside of Sactionals contains none of the harmful chemicals (like chlorinated tris) so commonly associated with polyurethane foam.
4. Sacs and Sationals are guaranteed for life…and they are built to actually last a lifetime. Other products and brands talk about being “sustainable” or being friendly to the environment—but lasting a lifetime—and maybe into the next one truly is true sustainability.

There is so much more to share regarding how we make our products and what makes Lovesac the truly eco friendly furniture solution for anybody, anywhere. Much of it this information is quite technical and (to be honest) kind of boring.

The bottom line is simple: Lovesac furniture is not just good as environment furniture—but its good for-the-environment furniture.

America at its best (and worst)

Today I spoke in LA at an event with Richard Branson as the headliner and Christian Audigier (Creator: ED HARDY shown BELOW) as the closer....what a lineup!   The "Perfect Pitch 2009" seemed to be a huge success to me.  With hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs and investors in attendance I know that I was inspired by all of the success stories and information shared.  I love these events.  The greatest thing about these entrepreneur events is also the most humbling: hearing SO MANY incredible stories of success, over-achieving and ridiculous wealth creation--all under one roof.  THAT is America at its best - no matter what Michael Moore says about it.  Capitalism breeds unbridled innovation - God bless America.  (GOTTA see the vid below though!)

I spoke on a panel with Apprentice (2nd Season) winner, Kelly Perdew.  It was fun to rewind a bit and recant some of my experience from the old Rebel Billionaire days.  I was reminded of just what a rare opportunity that was.  God bless America.  (Me and Kelly Perdew shown right)

One of the coolest entrepreneur presentations ("pitches") of the day came from the founder of Icon Aircraft.  I was blown away by his concept for a "Sport Plane," meant to tap into the "Power Sports" market (Sport Cars, Sport Bikes, Sport Boats, etc)...but for planes.  This plane is SICK.  Checkout: http://www.iconaircraft.com/ It will only cost about $140k and anyone can fly it, on land or on water...and tow it home on a trailer.

Finally, in contrast, I leave you with this thought - which can only be expressed in this real-life, unplanned, un-scripted, spur-of-the-moment little video that I just had to record as I watched TV the other night.  THIS is the antithesis of everything that I stand for.  I mean, hats off to Bob for his entrepreneurship, but OH, America - don't give in to becoming the unabashed couch potato that this ad implies that you are....

God bless America??

-- Shawny D.

Customers Do it Better

I’m always showing you what we can do with Sactionals and (what I think is) our wicked-cool LoveSac furniture.  Here are some Sac’rs personal pads as (is always the case): customers do it better….

This is one of our Colorado Sac’rs: Shane Moss.  Shane clearly has good taste.  Shane chose to go with our (now extinct) Puppy Phur, which was discontinued in late ’07 after P.E.T.A. found out just how many puppies went into making a seven cushion sectional like this one.  (Actually, this washable LoveSac Cover is 100% faux and 99% puppy friendly….its just a joke….its not even really my joke….I stole it from our FlatIron, Colorado store’s blog).

I really like the way that Shane chose to do a DOUBLE Chaise Sectional.  This is a position not even shown in our video of 69 Sactional Positions, which, by the way, was NOT an intentional attempt at college humor.  We literally just kept shooting positions in the white room until we had gone all day.  When we counted them up, guess how many we had!?   Yeah – we had to just let it ride.  BUT, the point is, even at that many, the seating possibilities stemming from LoveSac Sactionals go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on, etc.

This second Sac pad is none other than Mr. Jackie Chan’s place in Beijing China.  You can only barely tell (from the left side of the photo), but Jackie also owns a seven cushion sectional built out of our extremely modular Sactionals, all with Espresso PlushSuede Covers (our most popular fabric).  Jackie picked up a GRIP of LoveSac gear while filming his upcoming Hollywood release “The Spy Next Door,” in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  This film is sure to be a hit, largely thanks to his on-set naps on the Sac in the on-set LoveSac store shown in the film - - spoiler alert!

Needless to say, after experiencing the power of the Sac himself on-set, Jackie raided our Cottonwood Mall location and flew home with stacks of Sacs.  Now, as you can see, his whole entourage crashes on them after a long day of trying to keep up with THE most energetic person I have ever met in my life. 

Stores in China, you ask!?   Yes, we’ve talked with him about it.  Someday, it will come.

 Finally, we have Hank, from Salt Lake City, Utah.  I just happened to be at our Gateway location the other day and as I was handling some biz at the counter, Hank walked right up, and with confidence, bought himself a Sac for his upcoming college days….without even flinching.These are my kind of customers! Hank: college will never be the same...

-- Shawny D. 

 

Travis Pastrana has a Big Sac

As it turns out, athletes from the NBA to the X Games use the LoveSac as a place of refuge and meditation before the big game, heated match, or sick trick.  Long time fan of the Sac, Travis Pastrana invited me down to spend a little time with him (which means I get to winch him out of his foam pit) as he prepared for the X Games...."Oh, and bring my Sactionals with you."  I believe were his orders.  So I loaded up his order into my Navigator and delivered it myself, hoping to get a few Rally Racing tips out of him.  I drove to Maryland to SAC TRAVIS PASTRANA'S PAD.

So in what precious little time off I do have I end up working with foam, and fluffing....at least this time it wasn't fluffing Sacs. (and it certainly wasn't that kind of fluffing either).  Travis' foam pit, filled with 40,000 pieces of cut-foam blocks (should've been Sacs), needs to be "fluffed" after each and every time he goes in on one of his attempts so that the next time the landing area will be as fluffy as the first time.  All I have to say is this: I watched this dude wake up, throw on a T-shirt, jump on his bike, get a 30 foot run at the ramp and bust a double back flip as his warm up trick...a trick that he originated 3 years ago and hasn't been caught up with until this year, finally.  This guy is truly the best in the world at what he does.  Oh - and if you don't follow action sports, just tune in to MTV this fall for the 2nd season of his hit TV show "Nitro Circus."  Who knows, you may even just spot a Sac there too.  In the mean time, check out this little vid of this, the 2nd ever episode of SAC MY PAD...

 -- Shawny D. 

What's Your Favorite Position?

Even if you have seen our patented twist on furniture, the Sactionals, you need to see this new video (below).  I understand that at first glance Sactionals appear just "neat sofas" that can be moved around.  But if you haven't seen them in real life, you will be surprised at just how tight they are and how good they look in person...the real thing seems to always exceed expectations.  I've said it before and I'm saying it now: This product will eventually become the "default" furniture for American TV rooms.  It is the only changeable, washable, FedEx-able, simple, extremely modular furniture that can be taken-home-today because of the way its small packaging allows it to be stacked/stored/stocked.  Watch the video past the first section to the part where it gets into the Sactional Positions.  Please leave a comment and let me know: what is YOUR favorite position?  I wanna know.

I honestly believe that this product is good for people.  It frees them from being stuck with their furniture in an elegant and affordable way. It is reliable and guaranteed for life.  I believe it will be the single-biggest furniture concept in the country once discovered, and our patents help to ensure that, but for now we are small.  We are not able to advertise.  Unless people happen to stumble into one of our little stores and experience these for themselves, they will never know they have this option....and most people who do end up regretting that they, "Just bought other furniture."  Often people even return their recently purchased sofas and come back to pick up Sactionals.  So help me get the word out!  Please forward this to your friends and family, because now LoveSac is small, but someday with your help, everyone will LoveSac.   WATCH THIS VID (ALL THE WAY THROUGH)....

-- Shawny D.

SICK New LoveSac Offices

Okay, so it’s not new.  It’s actually the same old office, but we actually finally moved in!  Two plus years in the same place and I feel like we never really unpacked…until now. 

WELCOME TO THE NEW LOVESAC H.Q. OFFICES

I’m not sure if any of you have ever felt this way at home or at work, but its like we were all in such a hurry to get to work that we just threw some furniture down, plugged stuff in, and started typing.  Wires strewn everywhere.  Boxes on the floor piling up with “stuff.”  Last week I noticed that our full-size office copier/printer/fax was actually straddling the space between a desk and some weird table – just “functional.”  Bare walls, or worse, crap taped to the walls everywhere, crooked, out of order—just functional—barely. 

(ONE OF MY ONLY SHOTS OF THE OFFICE “BEFORE” CROWDED BY PEOPLE WEARING FUNNY HATS AT OUR BABY SHOWER FOR LUCKY)

 

Well, those days are finally over.  And it is not like last week was convenient or anything.  In fact, it was probably the most inconvenient time that it could have possibly been.  We are about to open 7 new stores in 60 days!  We are in final sampling to launch about 20 new products this fall!  And we are in talks with numerous new investors interested in helping us grow our business.  CRAZY, CRAZY times.

 

WE DID HIRE PAINTERS OFF OF CRAIGSLIST.  WORKED ALL WEEKEND.  THIS DUDE PASSED OUT AND SLEPT UNTIL NOON ON MONDAY JUST LIKE THAT – FULLY WORKING OFFICE, WITH PEOPLE ALL AROUND HIM.  SEE THE CHAOS WE WERE LIVING IN!?  NASTY CARPET, EH!?

 

 

 

But somehow, between many late, late nights and early, early mornings…making for long, long days, we transformed the office from what it was, to the Sac H.Q. that it always should have been.  And all this on a shoestring budget!  We built our own desks, made our own furniture (of course), and did most of the work ourselves.  Check it out!  Please COMMENT and let me know what you think.  Like it or hate it, I LOVE to hear from you.

THE ENTRY, LOOKING OUT: CURRENT SEASONAL (TATTOO, FOR NOW) COVERS ON DISPLAY. (SAME PLACE YOU SAW THAT PAINTER PASSED OUT, BEFORE)

 

THE ENTRY, LOOKING IN: THAT IS OUR BOARD OF HISTORY.  LAYERS OF 8 YEARS’ STUFF STAPLED, TAPED, TACKED UP THERE, FRAMED IN BLACK.  TABLE ON THE LEFT WHERE WE WILL CONTROL ALL THE MUSIC TO ALL THE STORES LIVE, FROM H.Q.

 

ENTRY, LOOKING IN: CHECK OUT THESE SICK CUSTOM ORDER MIXED SACTIONALS COVER-SETS.  PLEATHER “FORD” COMBINED WITH STUFF SO NEW ITS NOT EVEN ON THE SWATCH YET!

“WEB CORNER”:  HERE SITS MIKE AND SAMBIR, THE WEB CREW, ON ONE OF OUR (MANY) CUSTOM BUILT DESKS.  THESE ARE  ¾” THICK 8’ LONG PLY-WOOD “SLABS” MIXED, A 4X4 CUT TO SIZE ATTACHED WITH A LAG BOLT, AND SOME STUFF FROM IKEA.  WE BUILT THEM OURSELVES.  FUNCTIONAL WITH LOTS STORAGE & SURFACE AREA. 

 

ACCOUNTING CENTRAL:  MORE SLABS.  DAVE & SPENCER (PRODUCT DESIGNERS) REALLY OUT-DID THEMSELVES WITH THESE DESKS.  BUILT-IN PLUG STRIPS, HIDDEN CORDS, SHELVES, HANGING ACCESSORIES, CORK-BOARDS…ALL CUSTOM.

 

NANCY AND MY OFFICE:  WE ARE BIG ON COOPERATION AT LOVESAC, AND EVEN BIGGER ON GATHERING.  OUR  OFFICE DOUBLES AS MEETING ROOM.  THE WINDOWS ARE OUR WHITE-BOARDS—ALWAYS CAKED WITH LISTS & PLANS.

 

CFO’S OFFICE BEFORE:  (HEE HEE)

 

 

 

CFO’S OFFICE: AFTER (NOW)

THE ROCKSTAR ROOM (CONFERENCE ROOM): BEFORE

 

THE ROCKSTAR ROOM: AFTER (NOW). NOTICE THE SO-NEW-THEY’RE-NOT-EVEN-ON-THE-CUSTOM-SWATCHES CHENILLE COVERS.  MURDERED-OUT LOVESAC NEON SIGN STUCK TO THE WALL.  MURDERED OUT CHANDELIER FOR LIGHT.  THE WALLS ARE 100% CHALK-BOARD PAINT & THE WALL BEHIND THE SHOT IS BLANK – JUST WAITING FOR SOME INTENSE BRAINSTORMING….UP THE WALLS.  STACKS OF VINTAGE GUITAR AMPS FOR FRONT TABLE – TO HOLD THE CHALK & ERASERS (NOT SHOWN).

 

BIT OF LOVESAC TRIVIA: THE GUITAR HANGING ON THE RIGHT IS A LEGEND.  THE AMERICAN BUILT FENDER STRATOCASTER, SUNBURST.  IT IS THIS GUITAR’S SUNBURST DESIGN THAT INSPIRED THE COLORS FOR THE ORIGINAL LOVESAC LOG0. 

 

THE NEW LOVESAC H.Q.  IT’S GOT SOUL AGAIN.  IT’S GOOD TO BE HOME.

 

-- Shawny D.

 

 

Is THIS Sexist??? comment & win

A few posts previous there were all kinds of great comments on our Mother's Day artwork.  Some  loved it, finding it cute, fun, and interesting; others absolutely hated it, finding it sexist, in poor taste, and offensive.  Here we go again with our Father's Day ad...Is THIS one sexist???  Comment here.   

ABOVE is our Dad's and Grad's ad and window poster celebrating father's day and graduation!  This is hanging in every store window now.  The Sac/Squatt Cover package that goes along with this art has over 300,000 stitches in a straight-stitch embroidery using 3 colors of black, purple, blue thread making up its unique "inked" design.  This is the first ever Sac of its kind.  But in this case, it is the ad/poster I am asking about.  What do you think?  Love it?  Hate it?  ALL comments are welcome, and the 3 comments that I like best (the funniest, most thoughtful or well-argued comments), will win THEIR choice of an Easter Phur Cover worth over $300 (Super, Movie, or CitySac) from our last Limited Edition Line, OR a $50 in-store gift card. All comments due by Monday, June 1st.  I'll annonce a winner by June 5th. 

PS: Hats off to designer Alex Hinton from Salt Lake City, UT - the baddest ink artist in the land. (That is NOT him pictured above)

I look forward to hearing what you have to say!  Don't hold back, either way.

-- Shawny D.

Hotel LoveSac: Using Sactionals as Beds!

The new HOTEL LOVESAC was constructed in less than 5 minutes and cost far less to build than the $1 Billion Yankee's Stadium we visited once they arrived.  My sister, Wendy, and her entire family came to stay with us on the East Coast this weekend--her first trip ever to the Big Apple and her kid's first time sleeping 100% on LoveSac furniture (parents took the guest room).  Check out how Sactionals and PillowSacs make absolutely perfect extra guest beds, in case you ever need one.  Here's how:

1. Have friends (or family). Or, as some have been known to do, use LoveSac furniture as your only furniture.  (Yes, my nephew, Tyler, is putting his Yankees ice cream helmet-cup on my dog).

2. Tuck in your Ottoman (lone Base Piece) into the L-corner of your Sactionals sectional.  Secure moste easily with clamp, alone. 

3. Move Back Pillows. Place mattress topper or blanket over cushions. Sactionals cushions are LoveSac soft, and definately large enough (roughly Queen sized) to sleep on.  A mattress topper to cover the cracks makes them softer than most beds!  Also, Sactionals Bases are flat on top, not sloped back/down like all other sofas...making Sactionals excellent guest beds.

4. Just add bedding.  My favorite are goose down filled comforters....available at LoveSac.com very soon, btw! 

5. PillowSac Rocker: multi-functional.

6. PillowSac guest bed by night.  Just place black Rocker Frame (upper left) on its side - stores easily.  Lay down on the PillowSac.  OR, the newest Khaki PillowSac Inserts from LoveSac are actually 1 foot longer than the Covers, making them exactly the size of a "Full" (or "Double") Mattress!  Take the Cover off and fit it with "Full" sheets. (shown below with Eskimo Phur Cover still on.

 

7. Just add guests. Matt & Jess out cold.

  

8. My dog chooses the Sac over any "real" bed any day.

PS: Don't forget to teach your nephews the lessons their parents won't: How to ride motorcycles and how to catch crabs.  :)

-- Shawny D.   - Manager, Hotel LoveSac

This guy "GETS" LoveSac Value

(sent to me recently by a customer)

Dear Shawn,

 

I just bought a LoveSac - a SuperSac - IT IS FANTASTIC. I wanted to write you an email, as everyone is amazed that we bought one. I am known for being frugal; very frugal. I was hypermiling years ago (when gas was under $2 a gallon), I maintain a body mass index of 18.5 to save money on groceries, and wear multiple layers of clothes when flying to avoid the new luggage surcharge. I personally do not see myself as cheap, what I look for is value for money - paying twice as much for groceries and getting diabetes does not fly with me, but spending $700 on something so comfortable, that I can share with my fiancé and really unwind is worth every cent.

 

It will not be too long before we return to Jeremy (in Natick - he is by far the nicest employee in the whole mall) to purchase a sectional. My biggest fear about investing in furniture is as young adults we are likely to move around before buying our own abode. What fits in this apartment might not in our next - one look on craigslist demonstrates that many people waste thousands of dollars because of this. This is not a risk with your sectional, I know I can spend good money today and not worry about having to throw it out in a year when we move.

Do keep up the good work, and as you roll out with new products Jeremy will see me back at your store (unless he has been promoted by then).

 

Cheers,

ABOVE: Jeremy, Natick Manager 

Iain

 

THIS JUST IN (MARCH 17, FROM IAIN VIA EMAIL):

- just to update you we did go back to Jeremy and buy the sactional. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it is the only way to go with furniture. I think we have had it for 2 weeks now, and it is FANTASTIC. Can't wait to get a big place, and buy more pieces!!!

Keep up the good work - really do love your products.

Iain

 

THEN, today my biz partner, Nancy, sent around a great article about how real "Value" is the new "big thing" in business today, and our Retail Director, Alex, asked the crew (via email) how LoveSac offers "value."  A good response, by Dan, in Salt Lake City...

 

Our product has a lot of the same value as hybrid cars in the sense that in some cases it is more expensive than some of our customers would have gone with but much cheaper in the long run. Our lifetime guarantee ensures this you will never have to buy another sofa ever if you so choose. Some of The most common reasons people replace furniture are because they are moving, our furniture is extremely easy to move with, the furniture gets old and worn out looking, our cover can easily be replaced, and probably more common than anything people get bored with the same old couch everyday, if you get new covers and switch the setup it would seem as though you spend thousands and bought an all new living room set for a fraction of that cost. my favorite question that people ask me is how are we doing in this current state? I always answer we are doing great let me show you exactly why and I'll lead into a sactional demo. the story about coffee with McDonalds and Starbucks made me laugh because you should never just forget the experience to get value. Lovesac is like Starbucks coffee served at McDonalds prices with an experience that tops either of them and rivals that of your favorite local coffee house one more like you see in the TV show "Friends" and we offer free refills.  [Dan, shown extreme left, above.]

Dan Bostelman

Gateway Manager

 

 

WHAT CAN I SAY?  I AGREE. SMART CUSTOMER.  SMART MANAGERS.

 

--Shawny D.