At this time of year, most of us are frantically busy executing strategies for the holiday season and making sure our customers are well taken care of, in order to finish the year off with a strong and profitable business. For some, this is also the time of year when you may be planning to upgrade or renovate your store in whole or in part during the typical slower time in the first or second quarters of 2010. If so, then you may also be considering passionately, or at least with a sense of responsibility to, how green could or should I go with the décor/design elements?

Interestingly enough given the economic rollercoaster we have been on lately, you would think what started out as a recognized trend in 2003 (on or about this time is when most leading design professionals would agree) might be loosing some steam. Fortunately for us all and the environment, this is just not the case and the disciplines of green space design are approaching critical mass. It is definitely here to stay. Solidifying this movement more than ever before is a large number of progressive Retailers, vendors, conferences, surveys and Associations (like Shelfspace’s involvement in the Retail Sustainability Summit) that are supporting and leading the way in the pursuit for environmentally responsible Green-Spacing of store interiors.

So what is the big ‘O’ In Green-Spacing your store? Is it an Obligation or an Opportunity? In reality, I think it is really both.

The obligation (even if you are not convinced with all the data and facts available to date) is that a lot of your customers do believe that managing our carbon foot print, is important. In fact, a recent study about women shoppers found that 25% of all products in a woman's shopping cart today are environmentally friendly (in addition, nearly 85% of all consumer purchases on everything from autos to healthcare are made by women). The obligation from a holistic and sustainability point of view is, to meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs too.

From an opportunity perspective, customers in general (including store management and associates) are all looking for retailers to make it easier for them to help the environment and do their part. Because the opportunity for us to satisfy what the customer wants has always been part of our DNA, it makes green-spacing a natural extension of a consumer centric business today.

The next big ‘O’ that usually shows its self by now is typically a feeling of being Overwhelmed or frustrated with the whole process – how and where the heck do I even start? Or thinking to yourself “I’m no expert”. And if you’re like most of us in retail you certainly do not have the time to become one in the field of green space design and procurement. Well believe it or not, it can be much easier than you might think to green your building, décor and store fixtures.

A first step (as a way to keep this process simple), all it takes is asking over and over again a few basic questions of your vendors, consultants and supply partners such as; What green options can you show me? Do you have any data, best practices and/or certifications to support its green status or classification? What is the value and return on investment for my situation? And then using this information to make informed decisions from. Whether or not you are using a design professional or creating a design from your own vision, the answers to these simple questions will go a long way to contributing to a greener outcome.

The second step you could pursue (given time, resources and interest level) is to become informed on the key issues and practices that most affect green design. According to the Canada Green Building Council it includes Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) that promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health such as Sustainable Site Development, Water Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Materials Selection and Indoor Environmental Quality. For more information on LEED Canada there is a great resource website at www.cagbc.org that describes everything you ever wanted to know but where afraid to ask regarding LEED definitions and practices. Think of LEED, as it is most often industry described, as ‘the cradle to grave' of all the elements that it takes to make a store a store.

Here is a final thought for your consideration as best summed up by Justin Doak (the founder of Ecoxera – Green Business Strategy For Retail), ‘The sustainability revolution is the new industrial revolution, yet the inception of this new era is being halted by our industry’s fixation on reductionism versus sustainability’.

So now that you know that the trend is the foundation of responsible retail design and execution – if you are not yet on board, is doing nothing really still an option? The great thing about the opportunity before us all is, there are a tremendous number of options and resources now to choose from that will assist you in achieving a distinctive in-store brand/customer experience that is both responsible to the environment and engaging to our customers.

Written by: Michael Battler, Owner Operator of Civilian Design Merchants (www.cdmretail.com).