Raised in New York City, David Bolotsky was exposed to his hometown’s diversity, and the variety of places and cultures that his family traveled to internationally. His father worked for the United Nations. From a young age this man was influenced by art, individual creativity and international cultures.
As a young college grad in the late 1980s, he got a job as a retail research analyst for Goldman, Sachs & Co. It was during the 12 years he spent there that the “ah-ha” moment occurred. Finding the retail landscape of the late 1990s homogenized by mass-produced merchandise, Dave recognized an opportunity. His interest in artistic creativity, and social responsibility combined he founded UncommonGoods in 1999.
Uncommon Goods is dedicated to being a responsible company and they have proved it by becoming a B Corp. “We have been focused on the issue of sustainability since our founding in 1999. B Corporation appears to have struck an insightful balance between the realities of business and each of the key components of sustainability — including human resources, environment, community, financial and governance.” Find our more about B Corps here.
David took some time off from his busy days at the office, discovering new artisans and riding his bike to work to answer a few questions for us:
What is the mission of your company and how do you achieve it everyday?
Our goal is to provide joy to our customers through creative, sustainable gifts and a memorable shopping experience. We are constantly on the lookout for great new products that cannot be found elsewhere, or making them ourselves in partnership with designers. About half of what we sell is handmade or recycled and we are working to add more environmentally-friendly merchandise to our offering, while striving to make our overall business more sustainable.
We are also working to improve our customer’s shopping experience — whether it is providing better pricing, more knowledgeable service, faster shipping, improved packaging or an easier-to-use website. I personally read every word of customer feedback that we receive.
Let’s not greenwash. What are the CSR facts of your company?
I believe sustainability starts with customer satisfaction. If we haven’t earned our customers’ loyalty, then we don’t have a sustainable business model. For this reason, we want to ensure that the team members that most influence our customers’ opinion of UncommonGoods have a positive attitude towards their work.
We are committed to treating every employee with dignity and respect, providing a living wage and, for all our year-round team members, company-sponsored medical, dental and 401 (k) benefits. We are an open-book company — we share our financial results and management meeting notes with all UGooders, as we like to call ourselves.
This philosophy is tied to our decision a few years back to move the entire business to an industrial location in Sunset Park, Brooklyn when we outgrew our space in Greenwich Village. We chose to do this instead of either outsourcing our shipping and customer service functions or moving them to a remote, lower-cost location, which would have led to a loss of jobs. Instead, we all work under one roof, which leads to a more cohesive team.
As mentioned above, about half of the items we sell are handmade or recycled. Our catalogs are printed on recycled and FSC-certified paper. Finally, we donate $1 for every order to one of four nonprofits chosen by our customers at checkout — our current recipients are AmeriCares, American Forests, Craft Emergency Relief Fund and B Corporation.
That being said, there’s still room for us to improve. Part of the reason we joined the non-profit B Corporation as a founding member in 2007, was to highlight where we come up short relative to best practice across a wide range of sustainability issues. I’d like to see us have a more diverse management team, switch to using more eco-friendly cleaning products, start composting and cutting back on waste, and effectively lobby for the creation of a bike lane to make cycling to work a safer option for our team members.
And I’d like us to cut back on mailing catalogs. Even though we print on recycled and FSC-certified paper, it would be better if we moved to an entirely web-based sales model. One last, often overlooked, component of sustainability is the financial element — we have to balance our idealistic goals with economic reality. Fortunately, UncommonGoods has zero debt and has been profitable for the past six years, so we’re in a position to continue to build on the foundation we’ve created.
How do you stay constantly ready for change in your company?
I start by listening to our customers, who are our employers. I meet with each employee in the company in small groups every three months to listen to their suggestions. Every week, one manager is responsible for sharing an innovative idea with the management team and overall company. I read lots of articles about things that are happening in our industry and in other related businesses, particularly publishing, which is one of the most advanced consumer-facing online businesses. Finally, I am never satisfied and understand that standing still is not a recipe for success.
What’s the best advice you have ever gotten?
“Listen to the fans, end up in the stands.” When I was going into my senior year in high school, I considered quitting the soccer team to run cross country. This was a big decision — I had played soccer for 10 years, the team was very good and our school had no football team, so soccer was the big sport. Meanwhile, cross-country got about as much respect as our “Mathletes” squad.
I was worried about what my friends would think of me for quitting, but my parents strongly encouraged me not to worry about what anyone else thought. So I joined the cross-country team and never looked back. Our team ended up winning the county championship.
I’ve never regretted other decisions I’ve made that went against the grain, whether it was becoming a vegetarian as an 11-year-old or leaving a career in finance to start UncommonGoods in 1999.
Where do you see your company in five years?
I expect us to be here in Brooklyn, with a more exciting collection of sustainable products that you can’t find anywhere else, a stronger connection to our community of customers, designers and artisans and a business that’s less reliant on our catalog. We’ve been experimenting with soliciting product submissions through design competitions and have been really pleased with the response. I also look for us to share our profits with both our investors and team members, many of whom will be cycling to work via safe new bike lanes.
Read more Dollars & Sense.
Photos by UncommonGoods.