Fighting Inflation with things that Last Forever

Pictured in the above photo are vintage Pfaltzgraff dinnerware pieces and international flatware – circa the early 1960s.

By: Greg Owens, Co-Founder & CEO Sherrill Mfg./Liberty Tabletop
January 25, 2022

You can’t go to a store without living it. You can’t fill your tank without feeling it. You can’t turn on the news without hearing about it. Inflation is back and it is going to be with us for a while. This is something we have not really seen or lived through since the late 1970s. So, what do we do about it?

Perhaps it is time to reevaluate the way we buy cheap disposable things, things that are so cheap that when they break, we just throw it out and buy another one.

Sustainability is in vogue right now, but do we really practice it? A little self-reflection will tell us that perhaps it is time for a reset.

Turns out that practicing sound sustainability concepts may be the most common-sense way to fight inflation. I was reminded of this when I went to my mother’s house and noticed that she is still using the same Revere pots and pans and many other kitchen items that she had when I was a kid living at home over 35 years ago. Incredibly many of her kitchen items were from her wedding or passed down from her parents. When I was growing up all the cheap junk came from Japan. Now it comes from China. But is it China’s fault that the products they produce don’t last and are filling up our landfills? The answer starts with Americans’ in addition to the cheap stuff. “Live better pay less at Walmart”. Today the Iconic brands that we grew up with are mostly just names being managed by companies that are engaged in “the race to the bottom”.

Their goal is to drive costs down as far as possible which means quality and durability are sacrificed to the maximum extent possible. Years ago, when I worked for one of those companies, I literally heard one of the Executive Vice Presidents say: “give me some sh*t in a really nice box, put our brand name on it we can sell the hell out of it”. Ultimately it is the retail stores that are driving the process as they all want to claim to have the “cheapest price” on their shelves. The race to the bottom has slowly deteriorated the quality of the things we buy to the extent that most of it is simply junk that will not last.

Take our product, stainless steel flatware (silverware) for example. You can go to Walmart and buy a cheap set of flatware for $15-$45. Our opening price point 20pc set costs $84.95. What is the difference? Ours will stay nice and last basically forever. Made from the lowest quality Stainless steel possible for flatware, theirs will turn dull and rust within a few years, then need to be replaced, particularly the knives.

Yes, the quality in manufacturing and materials is important but that is not all. When you buy quality products that last and stay nice, they are also things that you actually want to keep and will have no desire to replace.

Like my mother who still has her wedding flatware 60+ years later.

Buy it once needs to become a mantra for us all. It will take some time but if we employ this mindset in our buying behavior, we will fill our lives with quality sustainable products and in the long run end up saving a lot of money. Money that will be tighter and tighter as we look forward into an inflationary economy that is likely to be with us for a while.

Greg Owens is Co-founder and CEO of Sherrill Manufacturing/Liberty Tabletop. Their website libertytabletop.com offers high-quality American-made flatware and other items for the kitchen tabletop and patio that are Manufactured in the United States.