When David Fuss and his wife Debra opened their first Eco Chic store in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 2011, they had to educate the customers on the proper pronunciation of its name.
“A lot of people thought it was pronounced ‘echo chick,’” says David Fuss. “We also had to explain what ‘eco’ meant. It wasn’t a popular concept at the time.”
The store did well anyways, and two years ago, the Fusses opened a second location in nearby Kingston, in a converted circa-1700 house that is an architectural marvel.
The business was born when David Fuss decided he needed a change after a career selling wholesale home decor and gifts.
“We were thinking, ‘Why don’t we offer gifts and accessories that have an eco-friendly association with them?’ Cool, chic products with a story connected to an environmental cause that people can feel good about buying.”
All Eco Chic merchandise must fit a strict set of criteria. Accessories, home goods, bath and body products, clothing and jewelry must be made from recycled or upcycled materials, fair traded, organic, all-natural or made in New England.
“And it has to be chic,” says David Fuss, with a chuckle. “If it’s just recycled, but isn’t chic, it doesn’t pass muster.”
Quarantine? No problem!
The stores have become a family affair. Daughter Jenny grew up spending time in the stores and took them over in January 2020 after her parents moved to Kauai, Hawaii. And she’s done a bang-up job, despite having taken over just as the COVID-19 crisis was beginning.“Our fourth quarter was the best in a long time,” says her proud papa.
“People love that they can get an awesome gift that’s exactly right — and feel good about it because it was recycled or fair-traded and not made of plastic.” — Jenny Fuss
The 24-year-old welcomed the challenge of store management. “She did a lot of giveaways and promotions on social media to increase website traffic, initiated curbside pickup and ‘Face Time shopping’ where customers call in and she shops the store with them,” says David Fuss, who helps out behind the scenes.
“People love that they can get an awesome gift that’s exactly right — and feel good about it because it was recycled or fair-traded and not made of plastic,” Jenny Fuss says about the store’s offerings.
Made in New England
The Fusses strive to find unique regionally made merchandise. They were one of the first to carry Boston-based Dune Jewelry & Co.’s jewelry that encapsulates beach sand from around the world in gold and silver. Both stores have large display cases devoted to Dune.One cool made-in-New-England items is from Round Pond, Maine. North Country Windbells makes wind chimes from recycled steel that sound like specific buoy bells. “People ask, ‘Why do these chimes sound different from one another?’” says Jenny Fuss. “They’re tuned to mimic the sounds the buoys in different towns make.”
In the upcycled category are candles from Rewined, North Charleston, South Carolina, with scents like pinot noir, chardonnay and Cabernet — in holders made from discarded wine bottles.
Something for everyone
Among the fair-traded goodies are the colorful Wild Woolies felt birdhouses from dZi Handmade, Kathmandu, Nepal. “Birds pull off little pieces of felt and build a nest inside,” says Jenny Fuss. “Those are big sellers for us.”Repurposed pro sports equipment from Berkeley, California-based Tokens and Icons is also for sale. How about a bottle opener made from a broken-in-action bat from a Red Sox game?
“Major League Baseball certifies them, tells you which player used it in what game and even how it got broken,” says David Fuss.
The Fuss family supports eco-friendly products and causes, like carrying clothing by Ivory Ella, Mystic, Connecticut — a percentage of every purchase goes toward saving endangered elephants.
A beach cleanup was planned to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Plymouth store, but the pandemic had other ideas. For now, the family’s eco activism is expressed through their stores.
David Fuss says, “While I can’t save the world in one big swoop, I can make an itty-bitty contribution and hopefully at the same time help the people who produce the products and make the people who buy them satisfied with their purchases.”
