A new materials sampling solution has come to the A&D industry. Mercato Place is an online resource and service for specifiers to explore materials and trends, search easy-to-use resource libraries and order free textile samples curated from leading textile manufacturers and distributors from around the world.
The elegant and highly curated platform was created to put the focus on people, relationships and good design. The catalog of industry leading partner brands includes: Designtex, Mayer Fabrics, Arc-Com, Momentum, Kravet Contract, Valley Forge Fabrics, Fil Doux, Camira, Luna, HBF Textiles, Fabric Innovations and more.
“We’re thrilled to unveil Mercato Place—which is designed to be the simplest, most environmentally friendly solution for discovering current, high-quality samples from leading textile brands. Our platform is not just a place to work, it’s a community. Here, our partner brands can express their unique personalities with reciprocal links and content. Users will find Mercato Place to be different from existing sampling sources. Designers won’t get lost in a clutter of products; instead, they’ll be in a curated space created especially for them,” Mercato Place Founder and President Ray Sayers said.
Mercato Place was developed for those who make or distribute textiles and those who specify textiles. Users include interior designers, architects, specifiers, procurers, purchasing managers and resource librarians who serve the contract/commercial office, hospitality, healthcare, retail, education, government, sports/entertainment and residential design markets.
The platform is free for interior designers or those looking to specify materials. Upon selection, ordering samples is simple and offers users more choices when it comes to delivery in an effort to reduce environmental impact. For brand partners—manufacturers and distributors of textiles—the cost to be part of Mercato Place is estimated to be 30 to 40% less than other platforms.
[Related: How to Specify Textiles]
“For our partners, our goal is a sampling solution that amplifies their brand and better connects them to designers while costing less. The estimated savings will enable them to invest more into their own new product development,” Mercato Place Executive Vice President Alison Goldman said.
Goldman added, “Mercato Place is not a clearinghouse for products from multitudes of manufacturers. While a lot of choices can be great, they also collectively can create a confusing and time-consuming user experience. We created Mercato Place to simplify the user experience.”
Environmental stewardship has been embedded into the brand ethos from the very beginning. Mercato Place has been thoughtful about taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Overnight shipping is exponentially more damaging to the environment, so more eco-friendly options are also on offer if samples are not needed immediately. The company’s sample takeback program includes a prepaid shipping label, making returns simple and free for the customer. Once returned, samples are processed and sorted; those that are in good condition will return to the sample library while others will be recycled responsibly.
Initially, samples for acoustic materials, coated fabrics, drapery, leather, outdoor materials, panel fabrics, performance fabrics, privacy curtains, sheers, upholstery, velvet and wall coverings will be available on Mercato Place. The company is exploring adding additional materials, including carpet samples. As partner brands launch new materials, Mercato Place will rapidly make the associated samples available on the platform.
Thoroughbred Fulfillment, headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, created Mercato Place. Founded in 1995, Thoroughbred Fulfillment is a high-performance provider of a broad range of marketing fulfillment services to companies throughout North America and the world. Sayers is president of Thoroughbred Fulfillment, a role he’s held since 2004. Mercato Place’s fulfillment location is at Thoroughbred’s headquarters and 150,000-square-foot warehouse/distribution facility in southwest Michigan, a major hub of the global contract furniture industry.
Mercato Place is honored to be a partner of One Tree Planted, a non-profit organization focused on global reforestation. The company has joined the Million Tree Challenge. With each new registration to the Mercato Place website, they will plant a tree and have committed to planting a minimum of 10,000 trees in the U.S. national forests in 2022. One Tree Planted’s efforts contribute to the conservation of wildlife, combatting climate change, restoring wildfire sites and benefitting local communities.
For more information or to join, visit www.mercatoplace.com.
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