Forests - Environmental Transformations - page 96

and remain competitive in the market place. And
this is precisely what large timber retailers have
been doing in recent years: they have flooded
home improvement and furniture markets with
products that are so cheap that it is impossible for
smaller, local retailers to compete (Dauvergne
and Lister, 2011: 39). But in order to understand
how this economic model actually operates we
need to return to our discussions of globalization.
In their fascinating book Timber , Dauvergne
and Lister (2011) describe the ways in which the
commodity chains associated with wood products
have been transformed since the 1990s. The
traditional timber commodity chain involved the
movement of wood fibre from logging operations
to so-called primary manufacturers (including
sawmills) and on to secondary manufacturers,
who make higher-grade products such as furniture
or kitchen fittings (Dauvergne and Lister, 2011:
41-42). The timber products would then move to
wholesalers, who would in turn supply retailers.
Big box retailers have been able to exploit the
economic advantages associated with globaliza-
tion in order to utterly transform this system.
The processes of globalization have enabled an
expansion in the number of suppliers of timber
products, who are all suddenly able to plug into
the system of global trade without being stuck in
rigid and hierarchical commodity chains. Large
timber retailers have sought to exploit the large
number of suppliers in order to pursue the lowest
cost sources of wood. These retailers have also
attempted to reduce the price of the timber they
receive by removing many of the links in the old
wood supply chain (including wholesalers who
would have taken their cut of the sell-on profits).
In doing so, large retailers have also been able
to connect themselves more directly with their
primary suppliers. Having reorganized supply
chains in their favour, Dauvergne and Lister (2011)
describe how big retailers then 'squeeze' manufac-
tures into reducing their prices further. This drive
to squeeze prices is achieved in two ways: 1) large
retailers will place exceptionally large orders with
manufacturers (often in the tens of millions of

dollars), and expect a discount to reflect this
commitment; and 2) in these days of flexible
supply chains, modern retailers can also threaten
to change supplier if a manufacturer does not
match their asking price (Dauvergne and Lister,
2011: 48-49).
In essence globalization has enabled large
timber retailers to exploit economies of scale at
both ends of the supply chain. At one level, they
can demand low prices from the suppliers who
they have increasing influence over through their
ability to place lucrative orders. At the other end
of the supply chain, through their presence on the
high street (or more often now out-of-town retail
locations) throughout the world, big box retailers
can saturate local markets with their products and
secure an ever-bigger share of the consumer
market. This model has been described by some as
a system of low costs-high control (Dauvergne and
Lister, 2011). The question remains, however, as
to what the environmental consequences of this
new model of timber production and supply are.

5.5.3 The environmental
consequences of big box retail
The environmental consequences associated with
contemporary timber commodity chains fall into
two categories. First is the increasing aggregate
demand that is being placed on forest resources.
A key part of the logic of big retailing is that low
costs will drive up effective demand for timber
products, with more people being able to afford
them. Added to this are clever lifestyle marketing
strategies that are developed by retailers such as
IKEA. As you walk around their big box units you
find full re-creations of not just kitchens, bath-
rooms, lounges and bedrooms, but of whole
lifestyles. This IKEA chic can range from loft living
in New York City to an English country kitchen.
At its heart, this form of marketing seeks to develop
a form of consumer demand that is not based on
need but on aspirations for new ways of living (see
Klein, 2010). Through the combination of low
prices and marketing, big box retailers are clearly