New Location Proves WorkingWonders A Resourceful Start-Up

BALTIMORE, MD, August 08, 2012 (Press-News.org) "We want to re-imagine home & lifestyle retail to bring it into alignment with a sustainable world," says CEO BethAnn Lederer, "but we need to manage our business first."

In the present economic climate, WorkingWonders had to cut back on expenses. But instead of closing down their brick-and-mortar presence in favor of focusing solely on ecommerce operations, the company took advantage of a low rent, high traffic option. Located on the second floor of Ellicott City's Antique Depot, the European biofuel fireplaces and stainless steel accessories this green retailer sells jump out in sharp contrast to the mahogany sideboards and nostalgic collectibles surrounding them.

Customers spot the difference immediately, and that makes the anachronism an asset, "...the perfect juxtaposition of what is, and what could be," Lederer says. "We're incubating a retail concept."

WorkingWonders is a company at the forefront of changing retail for the better, and even from an antique mall the company has found ways to demonstrate their vision. They provide take-away information, reference their online selection of the products on display, and are setting up a computer system that goes directly to their ecommerce site, http://www.WorkingWondersUS.com.

The goal is to take advantage of the foot traffic and get WorkingWonders into consumers' online browsing habits. As the company represents more than 100 sustainable manufacturers spanning furniture, carpet, pet accessories, mattresses, and kitchens, it's important that they open up a broader appeal than simply the items people see when they walk by. Though it may not be the ultimate destination WorkingWonders wants to build outside Washington, D.C. - a plan for a new paradigm of sustainable home & lifestyle that retail brand architect Nathan Fishkin has called, "totally innovative," and, "a game-changer" - setting up shop in an antique mall shows amazing resourcefulness.

Simultaneously pressing forward with plans to innovate and bring new experiences to consumers is doubly impressive. It's a story that has shades of the Phantom of AOL, software developer Eric Simons, who lived secretly at the internet giant's Palo Alto office for an entire month once funding for his start-up ran short. These are stories about what entrepreneurs do in order to keep going and make progress in the midst of a tough economic climate.

"Part of running a start-up is that experimentation is a regular part of day to day business," Lederer says as she works to put the finishing touches on the computer system that will showcase her ecommerce site to antique mall shoppers. "Before people can vote with their dollars for healthy, earth-best products, they need to be able to tell which ones really are the healthy, earth-best products. That's what we're trying to do here."

Lederer and WorkingWonders may not be too far off from their demographic, either. Su Casa has a location just up the street, and the residential population in and around Ellicott City is highly educated and generally well off. And one of the biggest pluses going for the new location is being installed just this week: air conditioning.

WorkingWonders at the Antique Depot is located at 3720 Maryland Avenue, Ellicott City, Maryland 21043.

*WorkingWonders is a sustainable retail destination offering better home products that are predominately zero VOC, made in the U.S.A., and designed to help create a healthy, green lifestyle. WorkingWonders' mission is to build a new American Dream by making sustainability a seamless part of everyday life, championing environmentally and socially responsible practices on their e-commerce site, and working to build the nation's flagship green home brand in Maryland, outside Washington, D.C.