Today marks the 15th anniversary of Renovation Angel’s inception. What started as a simple pilot project in Greenwich, Connecticut on June 15th, 2005 has now become a vibrant national movement.
Our entire team, many of whom have been with us since the beginning, would like to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to all of our gracious donors, customers, and industry advocates. Your continued interest and support of our responsible renovation and luxury recycling movement is why we celebrate today.
Visit our Facebook to see a video message from our founder to mark the occasion!
Establishing Luxury Kitchen Recycling
In 2006, our first stores opened in Honesdale, Pennsylvania and Bethel, New York. A year later we received our first feature article in The New York Times. In the same year we opened our store in Norwalk, Connecticut. People were beginning to show serious interest in our recycling process and up-cycled luxury goods.
In 2008, our second feature in The New York Times came out and we celebrated our 500th recycled kitchen. Our education campaign was starting to ramp up, and in 2009 our program was featured in the Kennedy Green House book. People were falling in love with the idea of cost effective & eco-conscious home renovation.
In 2009, we were honored to recycle our first Clive Christian kitchen. The beautiful workmanship of this world renown designer helped us to spread the message even further. That same year we opened our Riverdale, New Jersey store and in 20011 we opened our current Fairfield, New Jersey 44,000 square-foot Super Store.
In 2012 we spread our wings to become Renovation Angel, the official charitable arm of Green Demolitions. That same year we received Celebrity donations from Soprano’s star Edie Falco and NFL player Amani Toomer. They became our first ever Celebrity Angels, and helped launch the luxury kitchen recycling message into an entirely new stratosphere.
A National Expansion
We soon began our national expansion into Chicago, Florida, and California. In 2014, industry icon Sub-Zero and Wolf become our partner helping us create awareness for luxury recycling nationwide. In 2015, we were blessed to get our third feature in The New York Times. Renovation Angel had become a trusted resource in the New York Tri-State area.
In 2016, we had distributed over $2,000,000 to charitable programs through our luxury kitchen recycling process. Our founder Steve Feldman was leading thought-panels and presenting at the annual KBIS convention in Las Vegas, and at the Domestic Estate Managers Association (DEMA). That year design industry leader Walker Zanger asked to collaborate with us in another amazing national awareness partnership.
From 2017 to 2019, the Renovation Angel team continued to expand nationwide. We were very honored to have been a topic of conversation on ABC’s CT STYLE. The segment featured lifestyle expert JoJo Pastors, and celebrity realtor from Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing television show, Amy Herman Schechter. They introduced their television viewership to the concept of luxury recycling and repurposing of pre-owned luxury kitchens, baths, furniture and other home renovation items.
On January 22nd, 2020 the Luxury Kitchen Recycling Awards (LKRA) commenced. The awards competition was free to enter and open to all kitchen designers, architects, contractors, interior designers and other industry professionals making sustainable renovation practices a part of their toolkit. Industry professionals submitted projects where at least 50% of the existing materials were recycled or donated, and projects must have been completed between January 1, 2017, and October 31, 2019.
“Recycling kitchens is a win, win, win – for the homeowner, the designer, and the planet,” said Steve Feldman, CEO/Founder of Renovation Angel. “Every year over 50,000 luxury kitchens end up in landfills. That’s 125,000 tons of waste. By donating your project to Renovation Angel, you’re not only helping to save the planet, but you’re also helping homeowners save tens of thousands of dollars in tax benefits and removal costs.”
Thankfully the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) agrees! “Last year at KBIS, we honored the ‘early adopters,’ those individuals who have made luxury kitchen recycling a best practice within their business,” said Suzie Williford, executive vice president of industry relations and chief strategy officer for NKBA. “We know there are many others — designers, remodelers and brands — who continue to elevate this sustainable culture within the kitchen and bath industry. This is our opportunity to recognize them.”
You can watch the full awards show below.
An Exciting Year of Change
2020 has been a wild ride for many different reasons, but as we look to the year ahead Renovation Angel remains excited and optimistic. We were honored to be featured in 150E58’s most recent issue in an article titled “Calling All Angels” by Deborah L. Martin. As Deborah states, “As the global conversation about climate change heats up, people are starting to realize that there is no such thing as throwing something away.” We’re happy to play a small part in the much greater mission to save the earth.
Since our founding we have proudly recycled over 7,000 kitchens, hundreds of bathrooms, and assorted other home renovation items (including furniture, art, and lighting). We have created over $24 million in new jobs, and have given back over $2.3 million to charities that combat homelessness, help at risk youth, and people in addiction recovery.
In 2020 and beyond, we remain committed to furthering our national expansion efforts. In the coming months we will be announcing several exciting partnerships and collaborations. Stay tuned to our social media channels for the latest news, and sneak peaks of our new e-commerce website launching July 2020. Soon you’ll be able to shop our Luxury Outlet online 24/7!
The Next Chapter
Since our inception we’ve been an organization dedicated to the social-entrepreneurship model, and it’s with great pride that we welcome some of our newest industry partners:
- Jennifer Padovani – Greenwich, CT and Palm Beach, FL
- Christopher West – San Francisco, CA
- Kimball Derrick – Naples, FL and Cincinnati,OH
- Michael Wright – Orlando, FL
We hope to see them, and the greater design and home build community, next year in Orlando, Florida at the 2nd Annual Luxury Kitchen Recycling Awards (LKRA). The LKRA awards will be at KBIS 2021 the week of Feb 9th. More details to come closer to the date. Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about entry submission dates, deadlines, and more!
