Tricia Thompson opens Staging and Design Network
By Syerra Rodriguez
When former real estate broker Tricia Thompson realized there was not enough space to accommodate all of the staging furnishings she had, she hatched the idea of opening Staging and Design Network (SDN). Having grown significantly since inception, SDN will now have a home right here in Deer Valley.
“No matter how much inventory I purchased, I was never going to have the right piece for every home,” Tomlinson explained in a statement. “I knew I couldn’t be the only one. The stager, who may also be a realtor, or even a seller, often runs out of inventory or needs help managing all the furniture they are not using.”
SDN is just that—a network where members can rely on the company to hold and manage the staging décor and furniture they are not using in a climate-controlled warehouse.
When a member’s items arrive at the warehouse, barcodes and high-quality images are taken and submitted to the SDN website, where the owners can decide if they would like to share their inventory with other stagers and realtors in the first-ever online Shared Rental Pool. When someone borrows or sells an item, the member then receives a payment.
From interior designers to real estate brokers like herself, SDN is there to help anyone turn their idle staging equipment into profit and connections. Members can even opt in to have items delivered, set-up and/or destaged. Tomlinson wants members in the SDN to be able to appropriately stage and design any type of house, without the hassle of getting rid of old pieces and searching for new.
Along with the combination of technology and warehouse, the company also does its part in being a catalyst for sustainability. When pieces have been gently staged and are no longer needed, they are donated to local charities instead of dumped in landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 9,000 tons of furniture and furnishings were landfilled in 2017 alone. A main theme of SDN is that everything is reusable.
Tomlinson’s business is the embodiment of reduce, reuse and recycle, as members are encouraged to use products to their full extent. For those who stage homes, room to hold items is often such a large issue that it may seem necessary to dump what you don’t need at the time. SDN is here to get rid of that mindset.
Listed as one of eight top tech innovators in the NAR’s 2019 REach Program, SDN is at the forefront of the staging world for its solid business model and creed to helping the environment.
Tomlinson had great success with her first two locations in Washington, and is now hoping to have the same impact in Arizona with the Phoenix location, at 3055 E. Rose Garden Lane, #140, Phoenix, AZ 85050.
For more information, visit www.staginganddesignnetwork.com.
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Syerra Rodriguez is an undergraduate at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, ASU. She is interested in spreading environmental awareness through her writing and integrates many elements of green living into her own life.
