Online newsletter Chron states, "American consumerism is alive and well. Despite economic fluctuations, folks still shop for products and salvage yards have become repositories for so many usable items' made popular by television shows featuring creative 'pickers'."
 
There has been a growing trend in the UK for home renovation including extensions and home office spaces with greater interest in unique salvaged items here too. Marc O'Flaherty commented in the Financial Times about the growing popularity of the reuse of salvaged items, "Designers are seeking out items with a past that create atmosphere hence the demand for salvaged objects." SalvoWEB got a mention as a favourite designer hunting ground.
 
Television shows revealing the complete process have proven to be especially inspiring for young salvagers. One example, was the fun American reality salvage television series, Black Dawgs, in which you saw how their team extracted architectural elements and reclaimed building materials from private homes, classic historical properties, old hospitals and crumbling mills "with a mission to reclaim, reuse, and repurpose architectural salvage for a sustainable future." The UK-based, Reclaimers was another popular television series showing architectural artefacts being rescued from demolition, restored and then reused. More recently the Restoration Workshop demonstrated creative methods of recrafting salvaged items. However, it would be good to also see a mainstream television home renovation show reusing reclaimed building materials.
 
How then do you start an architectural salvage yard?
 
Experience is key in starting any business. Many young people coming into the trade are fortunate enough to have gained experience from either a parent or mentor. Others may have started with a simple love of reuse and/or from choosing reclaimed items for their own home project before moving on to selling. Then growing their business slowly, making contacts and selling online, at fairs or through social media.
 
The Chron article goes on to give a basic guide on starting an architectural salvage yard in the USA. Considerations include checking out local yards, choosing suitable commercial land, possibly buying an established yard, affiliation with the trade, picking a name and attending renovation workshops etc.
 
The UK-based company, Start Up Donut, also provides online guides for small businesses which cover topics such as researching your target market and the current competition, deciding what to sell, how to add value, renovation, recraft, pricing and how to advertise and market your stock.
 
They advise forming alliances in the trade and give Salvo a mention in their article, for example, "compliance with the Salvo Code (a non-statutory voluntary code of practice)" in buying and selling. They continue, "Salvo has a huge amount of information and news on its website, including current news items, a forum and information about upcoming fairs and demolitions"... Going out and about to salvage fairs and industry events is an excellent way of meeting other members of the trade and finding out what's happening around the country."
 
Now more than ever people are shopping for salvage online, SalvoWEB connects buyers and sellers worldwide, so it is a great place to get your name and your stock out there. Business registration includes thirty adverts and your own page in the Salvo Directory. You can also subscribe to email alerts from your account dashboard to receive the latest for sale and wanted listings as well as demolition and theft alerts. If you are looking to start your own website, you could consider a SalvoSITE. Specially designed for architectural salvage and reclamation dealers, we create bespoke websites that automatically sync stock with SalvoWEB listings so you gain maximum exposure.
 
Once your business is established joining the Salvo Code, a world-leading reclamation assurance will flag trust to both customers and the press. The Code is a peer-reviewed community of businesses that meet high standards in responsibly sourced architectural salvage and reclaimed materials. Membership provides affiliation with other trade members for both information, support or social events.
 
There are some very interesting stories out there about how current dealers came into the salvage trade. After a highly successful career in the fashion industry, and as the author of a best-selling autobiography, 'A Pocketful of Holes and Dreams' Jeff Pearce is just one example. His passion for reclaimed architectural features began some forty years ago when he refurbished his chain of fashion stores using period features. Then using his eye for detail and quality, Jeff went on to start Reclaimed World, based in Cheshire, UK, so beginning a new journey sourcing reclaimed materials, vintage, and antique products worldwide.
 
American dealer, Julie Karner, owner of Crescent Moon based in Wisconsin, describes the emotional connection of saving items for reuse, "After 20 plus years salvaging historic structures, I still cannot watch a building be razed. It always makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and tears come to my eyes. It is too graphic for me. I have, in every sense, made a connection with the structure during the recovery of its historic relics and cannot bear to watch it go down. I can fully appreciate the emotions that run high in a community when one of their own for generations goes."
 
Meanwhile, Ricky Smith, who runs the reclaimed roofing business, Roofslates.com, based in Manchester, UK said, “Our customers these days include millionaire football stars as well as prestige clients such as the new Coronation Street TV set as well as the Houses of Parliament in London. We have probably been saving and selling around a million reclaimed roof slates a year for the past 25 years.” Plus over this time his company has saved more than 16,000t CO2e. How many other trades can claim to have made such a significant stride to mitigate climate change?
 
Get in touch if you are starting or recently established an architectural salvage yard and would like to share your story in SalvoNEWS.