REMODELER SUCCESS PODCAST
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About this Episode
Join host Dennis Oz as he engages in a captivating conversation with Steve Feldman, founder of Renovation Angel. Discover the remarkable journey of Renovation Angel, a company changing the luxury kitchen remodeling landscape. Steve reveals how they’ve revolutionized kitchen renovations, making them cost-effective and eco-friendly. Gain insights into the challenges of educating high-net-worth individuals and the future of luxury kitchen recycling in this enlightening episode.
1. Sustainability and Recycling in Luxury Kitchens:
- Steve Feldman highlights the growing importance of sustainability within the industry. His company, Renovation Angel, focuses on luxury kitchen recycling, advocating for environmental responsibility. This presents an opportunity for designers and contractors to explore sustainable practices and materials, potentially attracting environmentally-conscious clients.
2. Recognition and Collaboration within the Industry:
- Steve’s induction into the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show Hall of Fame underscores the value of recognition and collaboration within the sector. Networking with industry peers, participating in events, and engaging with associations like NKBA can enhance visibility and foster partnerships, essential for both established and emerging professionals in the kitchen and bathroom industry.
3. Expansion Opportunities and Addressing Grey Inventory:
- Steve outlines potential growth avenues, including geographic expansion and raising awareness among high-net-worth families. Additionally, he mentions the opportunity in addressing “grey inventory” – unused, discontinued, or display merchandise from appliance and fixture dealers. This presents a solution-oriented approach for designers and contractors, allowing them to source unique products while addressing industry challenges.
Transcription
Dennis Oz
Welcome to And another exciting episode of Remodeler Success Podcast. I’m your host, Deniz Oz, and today’s a pretty special day. You see how excited I am. And because it marks the first time that we are having a Hall of Fame on our show, from the kitchen and bathroom industry, that’s really, really amazing for our show.
Our guest today is a real legend in the field. He’s been around for decades, and he has done some amazing stuff. stuff in the world of luxury kitchen recycling. Basically, he’s a big, big deal when it comes to sustainability, recycling and all these kind of good stuff. Uh, well, I’m sure that he’s worked already inspired bunch of professional in the industry from designers and modelers and more, so let’s not waste any more time.
I’m thrilled to announce Steve Feldman here. Steve, welcome to the show.
Steve Feldman
Dennis, thanks so much for inviting me. It’s great to be here. Great.
Dennis Oz
Could you please share a little bit of yourself?
Steve Feldman
Yeah, absolutely. So I grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. I was a cross country runner in high school. I went to the University of Rhode Island and I majored in communication. And when I worked at the college radio station, and then when I graduated from college, I got my first job in radio. And I stayed there for 18 years. I started off as a disc jockey and music director and then became a program director. And then I moved into sales sales manager and our station was the 1st in the morning independent syndicate in the country back in 1993. And then I was promoted to senior marketing director. So I was there from 1979 to 1998.
Dennis Oz
That’s pretty much like you started in like, yes, it’s 1990. This is a long, long time here we are talking about. But, um, well, I was, Steve, I was watching you. On the stage, uh, kitchen and bath industry show stages and also so many different panels. Uh, the information that you just, just share with the community is really inspiring. I really wonder what motivated you to get involved in the luxury kitchen recycling.
Steve Feldman
So when I left the radio business, I was in fundraising and looking for creative ways to do fundraising. And I was working in Greenwich, Connecticut. Uh, it’s an interesting story. I had read about a person in Forbes magazine in 1998 who was helping charity. So I cold called him out of Forbes magazine and he picked up the phone and I said, uh, Mr. Cop, I have this very worthy charity and, uh, would you meet with me? And he said, well, send me something. So at the time, the charity I was working with had an organic bakery. So. We, I sent him 10 loaves of bread and cookies and books and, uh, information on the charity. And I called him the next day. I said, Mr. Kopp, did you get my package? And he said, uh, yes, in fact, I’m eating a peanut butter sandwich on your raisin bread. It’s good. So, uh, I’ll meet with you. So I, I got to Greenwich on a peanut butter sandwich.
And so I was supposed to have a 2 hour meeting with him and it became like a 6 hour meeting and then he said, come back in the spring. So I came back in the spring and he said, look, there’s a lot of fundraisers here in Greenwich. So, I can’t just introduce you to the fundraiser, but. I would like to invite you over to a potential donor and we’ll go swimming in her pool.
We’ll see what happens. So I never got in the pool that day. I just talked to the donor and she was very excited about what we’re doing. And so she came up and visited our facility and. He said, I would support you. So she became my first big donor and, uh, I would go visit her in Greenwich and, you know, she would always say to me, my next door neighbor is the empress of Iran and I was, Oh, that’s [00:04:00] nice, you know, and then in 2001, he lost 30 million in the stock market crash in one week and she was all upset and she said, look, I can’t give you any more money.
Here’s your last check. Good luck. So I left that meeting and I saw a sign in the empress’s driveway that said demolition in progress. So the gates were open and I drove up to this 10, 000 square foot Rockefeller mansion and it was gone and I stood there thinking, why not take out the good items in the house and sell them and earn the money for charity rather than ask for it.
So, that became the idea and then. Uh, the Greenwich time newspaper heard about my idea from a real estate agent, and they did an article on the idea in October 2001 and. So, uh. So, uh. So, uh. So, uh. I got 36 phone calls from architects and builders, kitchen designers, interior designers, real estate agents, and homeowners directly.
And that’s how it all started. So, I did it as a pilot program for four years, and then in 2005, I started doing this full time, and we grew very, very quickly. We got a lot of initial press in the Greenwich area, Greenwich Magazine, some of the other magazines and newspapers, and people, it was word of mouth, and there was a demolition boom going on in Greenwich.
The year I started, I believe it was 195 homes were torn down in Greenwich. When you think about that, that’s pretty astounding.
Dennis Oz
It’s a real big number when you look at like the waste that is just being created out of it. So it’s like, seriously, it’s a big number.
Steve Feldman
It’s a very big number and that was just the town of Greenwich.
I guess you can edit that out.
Dennis Oz
Yeah,
Steve Feldman
I’ll pick up that line. So that was a very big number. Yes, in fact, it was the town of Greenwich only. So the surrounding towns like Westport and New Canaan, Darien, and Westchester County, I’m assuming there was probably five to 700 demolitions going on in a year in that market. And these are, these are decent homes. These are not junkers, you know? Uh, so some of the kitchens had been installed five, seven, ten years ago. So we started taking out the kitchens and we grew very fast. And then in 2007, I had the idea to start selling, uh, open box display appliances. So we started doing that originally for Viking, and then we expanded out to other brands. And so that my theory there was a consumer that would buy a pre owned kitchen, would buy a scratch and den open box display appliance. And so that program has really grown. And today we have quite a big selection of, uh. Surplus appliances that are luxury outlet. So, um, we, we grew very fast from, like, one little store up in the Catskills to three stores.
And then we opened a store in Connecticut, and then we consolidated everything into a 43, 000 square foot store in Fairfield, New Jersey in 2020.
Dennis Oz
It’s a really big store in New Jersey. It’s, uh, it’s seriously, it’s a really big, uh, huge space that I can, that we can see that is the, the renovation angel.
We’re going to talk about it as well. But let’s talk about the main, um, trends. But before the trends, let’s talk about the, the meaning of that recycling. What do you think? What does recycling and upcycling really mean to our industry? And, uh, Yeah, let’s also talk about some key trends that you’re seeing over the years.
Steve Feldman
So, you know, I use the word recycling because it was something that was most well known back in 2005, and the world was just starting to get green. Uh, in fact, I remember when I first started, it was a Forbes magazine, uh, cover article, and it said, GE goes green. So I knew I was on something because our original name was green demolition before we changed the renovation angel.
So we, the green movement started in, in the early 2000s and it started to grow. And, you know, the media was very, very interested in this. Um, so, like, the New York times, didn’t a regional article in 2007, then a national article in 2008 on what we were doing with recycling kitchen. So. And, and the term recycling, of course, you know, means taking something and turning it into something else.
So, you know, what we’re doing is we’re taking that pre existing kitchen and making it available for somebody’s home. So, in a sense, the materials aren’t being changed, but the design and layout are being changed. So, but we’re tending to use more words like repurposing, upcycling, reuse. Because, you know, since the banking crisis, the after markets in America have exploded.
There’s so many, you know, you look at how, how eBay has grown and these other platforms to sell pre owned furniture and fashion, uh, and obviously pre owned cars has always been a big deal. So, you know, we’re the first. On a large scale to do pre owned luxury kitchens and chair rooms.
Dennis Oz
It’s a really interesting idea from start to finish.
Seriously. It’s a, there’s no surprise that you are, um, 1 of the pioneer, uh, people in the industry. That’s definitely no surprise. I’m just getting seriously getting more and more influence. As soon as you just tell me the story and like what inspired you and, uh, you know, the details of your, let’s say, all the whole career.
So this really amazing to hear about that. Let’s talk about a little bit of the challenges, though. I’m sure you got some set of challenges. Every industry, uh, pretty much like we have challenges everywhere. Every industry has some challenges. Some let’s talk about some obstacles or setbacks you have seen in the luxury kitchen recycling business.
So. What are those and what are the best way to overcome them?
Steve Feldman
So when we first started in Greenwich, you’re talking about one of the highest net worth communities in the country. And it was word of mouth from homeowner to homeowner, from builder to builder, designer to designer. So that was really like the best way to get new penetration.
And we didn’t advertise. Um, I think we got some complimentary free advertising because we’re a nonprofit, but we really just got a lot of press and word of mouth. And, you know, after the banking crisis. You know, the people that were tearing houses down in Greenwich weren’t doing it anymore because the real estate value started to go down and spec building wasn’t a thing for quite a few years.
So, we then have to expand geographically and, you know, fortunately, the New York Times article just come out. So that helped us pick up audiences in New Jersey, Manhattan, Long Island, and then eventually other parts of the country. One of the biggest obstacles we have is really getting to that uber wealthy, ultra high net worth consumer to break through the gatekeepers, which could be the architects, the builders, could be the estate managers, the personal assistants, could be the family offices.
You know, these are all, you know, entities that exist in the ether world of iFinance. Um, of ultra high net worth families. So, but the ones that have discovered us have been really delighted because we come in with a fully insured. vetted crew that does a white glove preservation removal. In fact, we hire a CIA agent that has his own vetting company to do a background check.
And it’s more than just a computer check. He does a video interview with each of our employees and not just the trucking and removal crews, but everyone who works in the organization has to go through this kind of background check screening. And I met him through my work with the estate manager association.
So, um, I learned a lot about high net worth families because, you know, it’s only the high net worth families that can afford to have an on site estate manager managing their affairs and their property and their staff. Uh, so, you know, it’s, it’s, but we’ve, we’ve really gotten quite a bit of, you know, great exposure through that.
And, and really our employees are really a wonderful, you know, selection of people in the market.
Dennis Oz
It’s really interesting, by the way, seriously, like having these people like gatekeeper because they these people when they have, they don’t deal with those like their day to day jobs, they delegated someone, then these people become gatekeepers for you and trying to trying to pass this gatekeepers requires a lot of screening a lot of different things, right?
Steve Feldman
So, so one of the big obstacles we have is to go out and to have business development people in the field meeting architects, builders, designers, going to networking meetings and to build a base of, you know, contacts and so Usually, you know, the hardest thing is getting somebody to have us try, like try our crew and try our process.
And not only do we do the white glove removal, but we facilitate a significant tax deduction through an independent third party appraisal company. Uh, it’s amazing people with a lot of wealth. This is one area they’re not that familiar with. Even their accountants aren’t that familiar with it. So. You have to if you’re making any donation that’s valued over 5000, which would be a kitchen for sure.
You have to get a 3rd party independent appraisal company. And most people don’t know companies that would do an appraisal. So we make it very easy. We introduce them to an appraisal company and the appraisal company can do the appraisal from our inspection. And then they get their tax paperwork and everybody’s happy
Dennis Oz
and you have the tax deduction at the end of the day. That’s the main right on the other end.
Steve Feldman
Right? So the big benefits would be the tax deduction and then the free white glove preservation removal. Which can be, uh, the savings can disperse itself in a lot of different ways. It could be a direct saving to the homeowner. Uh, they might use that to negotiate a better rate.
If the contractor has brought us in on a project, they’ve already set, uh, work the demo into the cost of the project. It could be saving for the contractor by not having to bring in a demo crew. Or extra dumpsters, so that’s all somebody is saving money on the fact that we’re doing that free removal. And then, of course, it’s a sustainable alternative to the landfill because, you know, as I said, in 2005, green was just coming on board, but the awareness for sustainability is higher now than it’s ever been.
You know, you have ESG, you have companies. That have sustainability directors, you see commercials on TV for how companies are being green and sustainable and you never saw that before,
Dennis Oz
Right? Well, uh, the things that you are right now, we’re just discussing here is really like serious to the deep down level about conducting a business folks. Imagine that you just have a showroom and people are walking in. And you’re justtalking to someone who’s just doing their day to day work. You’re not, you don’t even, you don’t even get to the decision maker. So here, Steve, one of the things that I really realized that, or maybe I’m thinking is education could be the main, one of the main, one of the challenges, let’s say, because the, the, all these benefits.
Um, and also all the process needs to be pretty much like, um, explained to the these homeowners. And, uh, so, and how do you do that? I mean, even if our regular remodeling process is like, I’m talking about this couple walk into the showroom. They have a, they have a home, they will, they want a new kitchen.
Even these people need some education when they are remodeling their kitchen or bathroom or any other space in their home. What you’re doing is is is not really easy to convince people if you don’t show the real benefits. Of course, sustainability is one of it. And also you’re we’re talking about text deductions, for example, which is going to be like showing some monetary advantages to these people.
But how do you overcome these? Uh, challenges, especially when you’re educating people,
Steve Feldman
you know, it’s, it’s a new concept and it’s still new to a lot of wealthy people who, you know, what I’ve noticed with extremely wealthy people is they’ve bought and sold lots of real estate and they’re, you know, they’ve moved around, they have multiple properties. And so they may have done 5, 7, 10 kitchen renovations over a span of 20 or 25 years. And every single 1 went in the dumpster until they heard about us and brought us in on the project. So, education is just educating them. The fact that a kitchen can be recycled is a lot of people don’t realize. A kitchen can be recycled because they look at it.
As built in millwork, they don’t realize that when you start to take it apart, it’s individual cabinets, it’s individual granite, it’s the appliances, you know, people look, the kitchen appears. As the kitchen in the background is 1 solid unit, but kitchens are modular. Uh, even custom kitchens that have long runs are modular to a degree. And so it’s educating them that 1st of all, recycling can happen. It’s educating them to find out that they could. Actually get a tax deduction because when people give things away, you know, you give a very expensive clothes to, you know, goodwill Salvation Army, you know, they’re saying, write the value down, but you’re limited to 5, 000. And the values for pre on clothing is very low. So. When people think donation, they don’t think high value when they think recycling, they think it’s something they’re going to have to do. And so we’ve taken the work out of the recycling and we’ve taken the value way up. So, as you said, it’s about education and how do you educate a very wealthy audience?
You know, we don’t have the funds to advertise. So, we network, we word of mouth, we get a lot of press, you’ve had dozens of articles. Blogs, uh, we’ve been on TV, we’ve been on radio and, you know, that’s how we get our. The word out, you know, and really we, you know, like on your podcast, you know, we really are talking to different markets.
We’re talking to the high end homeowner and their industry professional who would want to use our services, which I know people are watching that are in that group. And then we also have the do it yourself for the people who won’t buy new. They’re buying pre owned for sustainable reasons. For price for the fact that, you know, some people have this, uh, personality profile, you know, I never buy anything now.
I always and and they’ve been shopping on eBay or Craigslist. You’d be amazed at how many doctors and real estate agents and executives, uh, they love the bargain. They love the hunting of bargain. So, uh, we have 1 customer that’s worth millions of dollars. And he loves the hunting for bargains. So it’s not about how much, you know, he could afford whatever he wanted to put in his kitchen, but he loves looking for the bargains that we have.
So those are the two markets. And when they come to our 43, 000 square foot store in Fairfield, New Jersey, they can see The kitchens, they can see the appliances, they can see the bath fixtures, and it becomes a treasure trove for this kind of inventory that you don’t typically see, you know, most consignment stores have furniture, collectibles, so that’s what really differentiates us.
Dennis Oz
Right. Well, um, uh, when you’re talking to these different people, especially, yes, you’re right, like the high end and also other people who are trying to recycle, I see, uh, I don’t know if it’s even, uh, even a case here, some showrooms are changing their, let’s say, design and they are wasting so many cabinets when they’re changing their designs and they are switching one cabinet Brand to another one and they’re just wasting.
I see some of the ads over there They are selling displays and they’re trying to sell the displays on some marketplaces so but i’m sure if you they don’t even know that they can somebody can also like Handle all these all these projects in a professional way and it’s gonna bring some extra, uh extra benefits with that I You know, it’s all about just you’re you’re [00:22:00] absolutely right when you don’t have funds to advertise You need help from the community.
That’s what make renovation angel It’s like a real angel for the community because i’m sure you get help I’m, just looking I was looking when they are looking when they are searching for renovation angel and also, uh, uh the company Before that green remote you said green demo.
Steve Feldman
Demolition.
Dennis Oz
Great. Well, this is, you are helping the community, helping the environment and uh, of course media companies would be interested in just to be your voice in the community to promote what you do. Because what, whatever you do is just bringing more and more value. Back to these, uh, back to our, our people, our environment. So I believe that’s really important. And, uh, with this podcast, you are always on the stage. We are, I’m trying to kind of really, I’m trying to underline the real, real benefits of recycling here, especially when you are not wasting anything.
People may think that the cabinets could be, may not be even good idea for recycling. You said it’s going to be like a modular millwork. But it’s not that way, guys. It’s not the way that you are thinking. You may rethink your, uh, cabinets when you’re recycling is you’re a homeowner or a business owner.
You can think about that. And there are always a solution here. If you’re tuning in today, this, this is your opportunity. But, uh, I’m going to continue to see because.
Steve Feldman
Oh, I wanted to just say one thing when you brought up showroom. So we have a whole program for kitchen showroom displays. Um, and the kitchen owners love the program because when you sell a display to a customer, they want you to make it fit in their space and they want to order additional cabinets and they want like the same service, but they’re paying half or less for the display.
So a lot of kitchen, um, Uh, showroom owners don’t want to sell their own displays, so they come to us and we handle everything because we have a certain kind of buyer that will make it fit. I mean, I was just talking to a buyer the other day. He tears he’s in California tears down 2Million dollar. Junk houses, build spec homes in their place and.
He’s looking for a big modern kitchen and he’s looking at one on our website. So, um, and we do ship across the country as well. So people, we have customers in California, the Midwest, Florida, all over the country.
Dennis Oz
That’s an amazing service. And that’s an amazing, uh, also when you’re bringing the largest, yes, you’re right.
People are. These modular kitchens, some business owners doesn’t even know, some showroom owners doesn’t really know that they can, they can get a service. So, this, that’s really amazing, uh, Steve, what you are talking about here is, is a really big help. Uh, let’s talk about the, yeah, we have different, uh, remodeling professionals here who are maybe also [00:25:00] interested in incorporating these recycling process into their services.
Can you offer some? Can you talk about a little more about like the practical steps or how they can consider what they need to consider if they really want to incorporate, uh, like recycling into their service?
Steve Feldman
It’s a great question. Um, from the beginning, there were kitchen designers who were very smart and kitchen companies, and they started incorporating our recycling as part of their service.
So, what’s great about that is it’s a pre service. They didn’t have to offer it. They just had to refer them to Renovation Angel. And then we developed a process called the Net Value Estimate. Where we estimate the tax savings, we estimate the removal savings, and so a homeowner can see, oh, I’m going to save 000 on my project, and the kitchen design company can then say, well, you’re going to save this much money on your project, would you like to buy that extra pantry, or would you like to upgrade your cabinets, or get a better set of appliances?
So this creates more money for the budget, right? Or in tighter times, people say, well, this kitchen, which was going to cost me 100, 000 is now costing me 75, 000. So that can just make it a closer for the kitchen company. So those are the ways to incorporate it. And then a lot of consumers, this happened many years ago. Consumer that had a deposit on a kitchen with another designer and the designer who worked with us said, I can recycle your kitchen. The person walked from her retainer and. Went with this other designer, because she was going to recycle her kitchen. So, um, That’s the power of recycling,
Dennis Oz
Right? And, uh, let’s then, uh, let me ask you this.
Uh, let’s talk about some specific advantages that you wanted to talk about that. But the like the specific advantages that if if external modeling professionals can can incorporate that service, what do you think is going to be? The main thing that they’re gonna, they will be helping environments for sure, but is there any other advantages that you believe, like maybe some other type of advantages that they may gain?
Steve Feldman
Well, as I said, it reduces the cost of the project. And if they’ve already signed up the consumer for the kitchen, which includes the demo, because a lot of times they don’t. Break down the cost. They just say, here’s the new kitchen. Here’s what it includes. Here’s everything we’re going to do. They might not even put demo on there because that’s just assumed that they’re going to take it out and that’s all built into the price.
So we come along, we do that removal for free. They didn’t have to hire a demo crew. They didn’t have to bring in that extra dumpster. And so that’s a savings to them. So that becomes an incentive to the contractors and designers that they don’t have to pay for that.
Dennis Oz
Right. Steve, by the way, how we are doing on time? Do you have, I’m going to cut this part off. Do you have anything to do? Like I’m going to go like maybe more than 10, 15. Do you have anything after this one?
Steve Feldman
I got a couple of calls I’ve got to make. So you want to do another, what, 10 minutes?
Dennis Oz
Probably. Yeah.
Steve Feldman
Okay. Yeah.
Dennis Oz
Before the final question, I’m going to ask about like the future. Before that, I would like to talk about like the being a hall of fame in the cave is like, uh, like getting in the world. I’d like to look about that. Is that okay if I can?
-Yeah, of course.
Dennis Oz
Let’s, let’s go back. All right then. Uh, that’s great. Thank you so much. I really wonder your experience with the hall of fame of Kitchen and Bath Industry Show.
Uh, what are your thoughts and what aspects of this event really excites you the most?
Steve Feldman
Well, I was I was actually very surprised when they called me and said that I had been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Um, it turns out that one of my former employees nominated me, and it really shows how sustainability is becoming important because, you know, in the Hall of Fame, you have people like, You know, the president of Sub Zero and the founder of Kohler plumbing fixtures and, you know, people who were very experienced designers for like 30 years. So, you know, to be recognized as a pioneer in luxury kitchen recycling was a real honor. Now we’ve done A lot of work with the NKBA, that’s the National Kitchen and Bath Association, for many, many, many years, uh, starting with just participating in their meetings. Uh, in our early years, we were the non profit at K Biz to receive the donations off the trade show floor.
We did that in 2006, And then we’ve, you know, been the voices of the industry on 3 occasions. And we also, um, set up the luxury kitchen recycling awards, which we ran for 3 years. And that’s where we recognize kitchen designers. Who were leading with great kitchen projects, and we would have a category called, uh, the most valuable kitchen and then the most luxury kitchen and then which dealer won the most volume did the most projects with us in a year.
And then we also they wanted us to do on the repurposing side, Consumers, they work with. Industry professionals that retrofitted the kitchens into their space. And there were some beautiful, beautiful kitchens that were recreated from the pre owned kitchens or showroom displays that we had available. So, when I got nominated, I was honored and surprised, and I showed up in Las Vegas for the induction ceremony, and they really [00:31:00] surprised me because they brought on A video of some of my great clients, you know, and some very well known people in the industry, including Matthew Quinn of Design Galleria, Peter Dean of Dean Inc. here in Stanford, uh, they brought on George Oliphant of George to the Rescue on NBC and, um, Sarah Robertson of Studio Dearborn, who’s got like a 100, 000 Instagram followers. I can’t remember the number. And then, uh, Sherry Qualls, who’s been doing their media and PR and they all said very nice things about me and they played that before they gave me the award.
So that was very exciting to see those people on the screen and, uh, And so very thankful for that. And, you know, it was great walking around cave is and having people who hadn’t seen in a year or two saying, you know, Oh, so you got the award. Congratulations. So it was really a nice recognition.
Dennis Oz
That’s really amazing. And, um, I was back there in 2020 when you were in Cabe’s, uh, next stage. So that was,
-yeah,
Dennis Oz
that was, that was an amazing line. I was there, uh, among the audience I was watching. So, uh, well, I can’t thank you enough for all the things that you just give back to, uh, kitchen and bathroom industry. Like seriously, you’re talking about so many different names and these people are like, it’s when you look at our industry, we are, uh, it’s, uh, when you look at as a whole, we are at the end of the day, the things that we do over here is this construction, we are building lives, but, uh, the whole is building lives and changing lives is, Just there is another aspect when you add all these like recycling part of it is going to be like completed with that [00:33:00] aspect.
So you’re just doing that for many, many years, and I can’t even thank you enough for doing that. But before we go, before we wrap up, I would like to talk about the future of recycling. I mean, what do you think? How are you gonna? What are the some of some growth opportunities, uh, in in the industry as a whole? Or what do you see? Where do you see the future of luxury kitchen and luxury kitchen recycling? What do you think?
Steve Feldman
So there’s a couple of different opportunities. One is just geographic expansion. Uh, in the past year or two, we’ve done quite a bit of marketing down in South Florida. Which, as you know, a lot of people from the New York Tri State area have moved down to Florida for, you know, the weather, for the tax relief, and so there’s a lot of building and renovation going on in Florida, and, uh, people have second homes there, third homes.
So that’s been really, really good for us. Um, so, you know, we’re looking at expanding it to California and some of the other luxury markets in the country. So that’s 1 way. And then, you know, the other way is, you know, just by getting more awareness with the ultra high network families that this is a possibility.
And as people become more sustainable, more people are interested in learning about us. So that’s another opportunity. And then the 3rd opportunity. Is what we call the gray inventory, which is the discontinued and display merchandise from appliance dealers and fast fixture dealers. That’s becoming available in the marketplace and it’s sitting in warehouse.
A lot of times on use and the industry doesn’t have a good solution for that. So we’re working at providing turnkey solutions and partnerships with the different manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
Dennis Oz
That was amazing. I just want to say thank you. Thank you so much for giving thanks so much for inspiring us today, Steve.
Uh, do you have any final words? Maybe let’s talk about if our audience, our listeners have any kind of questions, what is the best way to reach out to you and get some more detailed information from you?
Steve Feldman
I’m happy to give out my email address. Please email me at Steve. At renovation angel dot com. Uh, and I’d love to talk to you about your project and, you know, see if maybe you’re interested in shopping at the store, whatever your interest is in what we’re doing.
I’d be happy to talk to you. Uh, that would be the best way to reach me. The other way is to go to our website, RenovationAngel. com, where you can see the products we have, you can see the process and learn, you can read the articles that have been written about us in the press, so the website has a lot of information on recycling and the products we have, and you can really see in a live stream way,here we’re recycling this display, we’re recycling this pre owned kitchen, here are the appliances we have available.
So that’s really kind of like the live interactive way to learn about what we do.
Dennis Oz
Great. Thank you so much, folks. That was another episode of Remodeling Success podcast. Thank you so much for joining us today. We’re going to see you next time. Goodbye.
Steve Feldman
Thank you, Dennis.
Dennis Oz
Thank you.