D2C Brands Buy Local, Build Local to Ease Supply Chain Woes

If you’re young and hip and environmentally aware, chances are you’ve already been introduced to the digitally native furniture startup Floyd, a 7-year-old privately held venture that’s headquartered in Detroit.

Although this trendy direct-to-consumer (D2C) home furnishings firm doesn’t offer the industry’s largest selection of products — nor is it able to ship its beds, sofas, tables and such to your door in 24 hours the way some of its massive rivals do — Floyd has found a different niche to survive and thrive, based on a primary goal of keeping consumers from throwing furniture in the dump.

“Floyd was founded as a reaction to the disposability of furniture,” said SVP Operations & Corporate Development Aaron Turk in an interview with PYMNTS. “Our two co-founders came together on the idea of how to create something of timeless aesthetic design, and of lasting quality, that is not going to end up in the landfill after a move or two.”

To fulfill its mission and differentiate its offering, Floyd adheres to strict guiding principles with all of its products. It focuses on creating furniture that’s modular and easy to assemble and disassemble, then reassemble when you move, Turk explained. Through that ethos, he says that Floyd — whose products are affordable but not cheap — is able to add lifetime value to what it sells.

“We have an authentic mission of sustainability, and that’s embedded into everything we do,” Turk added.

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The Nesting Trend

The idea of modular, long-lasting furniture is not only good for the environment, but it’s also good for business — and as a result, Turk said the company has seen strong growth throughout the pandemic. That’s partly because Floyd has benefited from people spending more time at home, he conceded, but also because Floyd’s young urban customer base — like the company itself — is growing up and warming up to products that are of higher quality.

Consumers also like Floyd because its products are unique compared to what’s on offer at retail giants such as Amazon and Wayfarer, or even at the Swedish furniture giant IKEA. Turk said that while Floyd sees them as competitors and has a lot of respect for them, it doesn’t worry too much about them, either. Rather, the company tries to ensure that its value proposition is different, with a focus on modularity and high-quality materials.

“We’re not necessarily competing on speed or in assortment,” he insisted. “We’re trying to be very deliberate about what products we put out into the world, ensuring that they’re aligned with our design ethos.”

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Built for the Times

Like every business, Floyd has faced manufacturing and logistical challenges due to the pandemic — but the company’s unique business model has enabled it to mitigate those difficulties better than most. As Turk explained, Floyd designs most of its products in-house — but more importantly, the vast majority are manufactured in the U.S., too.

“We only really go abroad when we need a specific set of materials or capabilities that we can’t get in the U.S.,” he explained. “So being mostly U.S.-based, we’re closer to our manufacturers, and that means we’ve been able to withstand some of the transportation uncertainties and cost increases involved with ocean freight.”

Floyd has also been helped by its willingness to adopt popular new payment methods such as buy now, pay later. Through a partnership with Affirm, it enables its customers to pay for products in installments rather than paying the whole lump sum at once.

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While Turk did not offer specific revenue figures, he said the addition of BNPL has been extremely relevant and facilitated the purchase of what would be considered a high average order value. The alliance with Affirm has worked well, he said, because as a startup with limited resources, Floyd is unable to extend that line of credit by itself.

“BNPL is essentially table stakes for a company like us,” he said. “It is something you have to offer, you have to be able to provide that.”

As far as growth and the future, Turk said Floyd is actively hiring and is looking to keep its growth momentum rolling by designing new products that expand its portfolio but stick to its core mission.