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Today's Profile: Mary Gatch, DwellSmart
By Holly Fisher
Research Editor
Mary Gatch’s decision to open a retail store for “green” products and building materials was a direct result of her personal experience.
In 2003, Gatch and her family were building a new home on Sullivan’s Island. During construction, they rented a home that literally made them sick. Gatch said she always suspected the culprit was mold. Taking some furniture and her mattress from the “sick house” to the new house confirmed Gatch’s suspicions. The mold came with them.
But creating a healthy living space was just one factor in Gatch’s ultimate creation of a “green” business. While building their new home, Gatch said she had a difficult time finding environmentally friendly and healthy building materials. Gatch wanted to avoid products that contained formaldehyde. She wanted to build an energy-efficient home using geothermal heating and cooling. She was coming up empty-handed.
“Over the past few years, I’ve been hearing about global warming and feeling I could do nothing,” Gatch said.
About a 1 1/2 years ago, Gatch realized she could do something to further her passion for the environment and healthy living. That’s when the idea for DwellSmart was conceived.
Located at 615 Johnnie Dodds Blvd. in Mount Pleasant, DwellSmart offers a variety of home, personal care and building products that promote Gatch’s mission for healthy, sustainable living.
The retail store carries organic mattresses and linens, organic and chemical-free products for babies and children, personal care products, dishware made from recycled glass, rugs made of recycled cotton, clothing made of organic cotton and bamboo, gift cards made from recycled paper, cork and bamboo flooring, recycled glass countertops, composters and air and water purification systems.
DwellSmart opened in November 2007.
“People are grateful we’re here. We’ve had a lot of repeat customers,” she said. “We’re still a bit of an unknown, so the challenge now is to get the word out.”
Running a retail business has been an adventure for Gatch, whose background is in technology. She knew a little about running a business, but is learning more about the various complexities of tax and legal issues. Of her three out-of-town partners, two have retail experience and are able to offer guidance.
Gatch has spent a great deal of time researching products for her store. She focuses on building supplies while her partners conduct research for different product areas of the store.
“It’s been a great experience for me,” she said. “The global warming problem doesn’t seem as frightening when you’re on this side trying to do something.”
In spite of all the talk about “green” living, many people are still unsure about what to do. Even Gatch is still converting aspects of her home to “green.” She no longer uses harmful cleaning products and switched her mattress and bedding to organic products.
She encourages people to take a small step each month—use one less plastic bag, convert one light bulb to an energy-efficient model or use a reusable bottle instead of a plastic one for water.
Gatch believes education on eco-friendly products and sustainable living is part of her mission and responsibility. Each month, DwellSmart focuses on a theme, hosting a seminar and changing out the front window display. In April, the theme was composting. This month, the focus is baby products.
Plenty of educational signage and information is posted throughout the store and Gatch encourages shoppers to spend as much time studying the products as they want.
In her business, price is one obstacle Gatch has to overcome. She recognizes the fact many eco-friendly or organic products are more expensive—a real challenge for people in these difficult economic times.
While not all products are more costly (cleaning products are essentially the same price as other major brands), Gatch said paying a little more for personal care products that are absorbed through the skin is worth the added cost. She also sells toys made in the United States, a way for parents to avoid some of the toy recall scares coming out of China in recent months.
In this buy-cheap-stuff culture, Gatch advises people simply reduce their consumption and then buy higher quality items.
What Gatch really hopes for is the government to step in and ban items like plastic bags or chemicals like formaldehyde or bisphenol A, a chemical commonly found in plastic bottles.
“What I hope will happen, and what has to happen, is that legislation kicks in. That will make the change much faster.”
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