The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) hosted an event for retail brands to discuss the role of sustainable printing solutions in visual merchandising and store design. The Visual Impact event was hosted by retailer Ann Inc. at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on March 29, and was attended by 15 retail brands including REI, JCPenney, Macy’s, Gap, Coca-Cola, and Under Armour.
The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) hosted an event for retail brands to discuss the role of sustainable printing solutions in visual merchandising and store design. The Visual Impact event was hosted by retailer Ann Inc. at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on March 29, and was attended by 15 retail brands including REI, JCPenney, Macy’s, Gap, Coca-Cola, and Under Armour.
The event was timed to coincide with the Globalshop retail design exposition and demonstrated renewed interest among retailers to support sustainable business initiatives. “Due to consumer demands, brands are under constant pressure to become sustainable and have set ambitious goals that are nearly impossible to reach without participation from within their supply chain,” says Brittany Sutphin, executive director of SGP. “The most common theme I saw is the importance of community and transparency when it comes to sustainability.”
Sutphin also observes that retailers are looking for ways to get around price concerns that have derailed past inquiries into sustainable printing practices, citing a project by Ann Inc. in which the company worked with its printer and suppliers of fabric and yarn to create an affordable, recyclable material: “Price tends to be king for many buyers, but once a brand establishes sustainability at the core of their business, they seek like-minded businesses to overcome obstacles as price.”
The Visual Impact event was sponsored by SGP, SGIA, 3M, Ecor, Drytac, Catalina Graphic Films, Mohawk Fine Papers, and Piedmont Plastics.