I've long been a fan of ABC Carpet and Home, the lush, somewhat boho-chic houseware emporium in New York City where you can spend hours roaming about on the creaky wood floors and coveting one item after another. So it was with deep satisfaction that I read a story in today's New York Times about the company's president and CEO, Paulette Cole, and her two-year-old grand plan to turn the store's inventory into a wonderland of sustainability and social consciousness.

"She not only wanted," the story reports, "its furniture to be environmentally conscious; she wanted, to whatever degree possible, every chair, lamp and pillow sham to have social resonance beyond the cash-and-carry transaction, whether that meant the preservation of a dwindling rain forest or help for an impoverished, widowed weaver." Though some employees found her idea "flaky," she persevered, and so far has managed to ensure that 20 percent of the store's inventory fulfills her vision. Not bad, in two years.

The ABC store, on Broadway not far from Union Square, uses biodegradeable packaging and soy-based ink. The company supports its own foundation as well as several environmentally and socially conscious nonprofits. According to the Times profile, Cole, whose great-grandfather started the business as a carpet company in 1897, took a "leave of absence" after 9/11, to escape from marital troubles and other stress. She traveled around the world, learning about poverty and the environment - and she returned to transform the company according to her new vision.

The article cites an ABC company study that showed customers are willing to spend up to 20 percent more on products that have a positive impact.

Image credit: ABC Carpet and Home