Daniela Staicu, ALTRNTV: "We are pioneering sustainable items manufactured in Romania, and we aim to expand our community of designers to 200 in the next two years"

In its second year of activity, ALTRNTV has moved into a rehabilitated historic building, in the heart of Bucharest’s Creative Quarter, and over 140 Romanian designers of sustainable products present alternative products, designed to have as small CO₂ footprint. Business Review talked with Daniela Staicu, co-founder of ALTRNTV, to find out more about the sustainability path.

ALTRNTV, a space known for the sustainable alternatives it offers consumers in terms of clothing, accessories, cosmetic products, and home-deco items, has reopened on18 Constantin Mille Street, on the first floor of the former Palace Hotel, whose renovation was recently completed. In the store, over 140 Romanian designers showcase environmentally friendly products, including names like Katerini MOU, Loomescu, Little Truffles, Pottery Paw, Ițe Urbane, Craxittude, MATCA, Deplin, Fizic Studio, Little Paris Atelier, MAD, and others.

How would you characterize the current landscape of sustainable products in Romania, and how has it evolved since ALTRNTV’s inception?

Thank you for asking this question. It allows me to create an overview of the current landscape of sustainable products in Romania, which has changed much since ALTRNTV Shop opened its doors. When we opened ALTRNTV (beginning of 2022), there were only a handful of Romanian designers working with recycled plastic, organic fabrics, recycled glass, and so on. We opened with products from 15 Romanian designers, and now, 2 years later, we host products from over 140 Romanian designers. The products vary from clothing to accessories, beauty products (perfume, creams, and soaps), and home decor (plates, cups, candles, rugs, and lamps). This diversity was possible because many designers started creating sustainable items, perhaps encouraged because they have a place (ALTRNTV) to sell them. It is also because people have started to pay more attention to the products they are buying (I mean, they read the label, understand what they buy, and how the product was produced). The sustainable marketplace is still lacking some products, such as shoes, sunglasses, and bags. Therefore, there is still room to enter the market by creating such items.

What role do you see ALTRNTV playing in shaping consumer attitudes towards sustainable consumption in Romania?

From the beginning, the team decided to invest as much time and resources in education as we could. Education for sustainability is an important value to us, and we embed educational activities in all our operations: we host workshops for creating sustainable items held by the designers in our community (typically on Saturdays), we organise guided tours at ALTRNTV where we welcome students (K 5-12) and bachelor students, and we talk about the circular economy and highlight circular economy concepts with products from the shop. Last year, we made a campaign to support young female designers in our shop and give them more visibility through videos shared with customers and students (VOICES OF WOM(EN)TREPRENEURS campaign) with the support of the US Embassy in Romania and their programme for innovation. Moreover, we opened a dialogue with companies to determine whether they should buy sustainable items for their training needs or gifts for partners and employees (for example, organic cotton t-shirts or recycled bags for training events, or terrariums as giveaways for various functions). This change in the company’s buying behaviour is slow because, in such a sea of information, getting information about why sustainable items are a healthier choice is hard to reach.

ALTRNTV has had a notable social impact, creating jobs and supporting local designers. Could you delve into the specific initiatives or projects that have made a difference?

First of all, since 2021, ALTRNTV has discovered and promoted Romanian (local) designers of sustainable products and donated all profits to the humanitarian projects of the Merci Charity Association. ALTRNTV also hosts a specialty coffee shop, ALT COFFEE, and educates young students and pupils to make sustainable choices through guided tours in the shop and consistently urging them to read the labels of the products they purchase. It is a circular economy project initiated by the Merci Charity Association with the support of NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship and a winner of the NESsT – IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Poland and Romania Accelerator Competition 2021-2023. Between 2022 and 2024, ALTRNTV created 12 new jobs, opened a new market for 140+ Romanian designers from both rural and urban areas, and indirectly supported over 350 production employees who work with designers from the community. In 2023, the team launched the e-commerce platform www.altrntvshop.com and carried out the campaign to promote female entrepreneurship, VOICES OF WOM(EN)TREPRENEURS, with the support of the US Embassy in Romania. ALTRNTV has also produced clothing items from organic materials (under the Atelier Merci name) since 2015 and recycles textile waste from production by turning it into RE(FABRIC) textile bags.

Are there any particular trends or innovations in sustainable product design emerging from Romanian designers that excite you?

We are happy to notice that many designers work with recycled PET (Katerini MOU) or recycled glass (Stycle) or create products using alternative fabrics (derived from fruits and plants) such as Huna. It is exciting to see that there is interest in the innovation of fabrics, and we support local manufacturing (local people, local fabrics) because it helps the local economy grow and also our livelihoods.

How did the idea of curating sustainable products from Romanian designers come about, and what inspired the focus on reducing CO2 footprints?

Nine years ago, we opened a small local manufacturing unit (Atelier Merci) where we produced clothing from natural certified fabrics (GOTS, OEKO-TEX) because Alina and I felt the need to wear clothes from natural fabrics that feel good on the skin and have a timeless design (you do not feel the need to throw a piece of clothing because it is out of fashion). At some point, we discovered organic fabrics, and now we only produce items (in Bucharest) from them (certified GOTS, OEKO-TEX), which are less environmentally bad and are gentle for skin. Our clients started asking us where they could find items like ours (from naturally certified fabrics), so we decided to open a shop to present local sustainable designs. Now, at ALTRNTV Shop, people can find products from over 140 local designers.

How do you navigate sourcing sustainable materials and ensuring ethical production practices within the Romanian market?

This is a tough process because we like to ensure that the fabrics used, the manufacturing process, and the packaging have a small CO2 footprint. We do our due diligence in all these areas before a designer is invited to present their products in the store. Last year, we managed to visit 15 of these designers in their studios for the VOICES OF WOM(EN)TREPRENEURS campaign.

Could you share more about the significance of this new location in Bucharest’s Creative Quarter?

It is so important for a business to be placed in the right context for it to function. The Creative Quarter is the place for our community of designers. It is the most vibrant area in Bucharest in terms of cultural-creative organisations, and it also enjoys the most significant cultural infrastructure in Romania, whether we’re talking about National Museums, Universities of Art, Architecture, and Music (the Romanian Athenaeum, the Palace Hall, the Radio Hall, or the city’s alternative cultural infrastructure). The Creative Quarter is located in the central area of the city, having a long and impressive history and benefiting from a remarkable built heritage, easily becoming a tourist alternative to the old town centre. Here you can also find many examples of alternative cultural spaces or valuable street art, the highest number of cool bars, cafes, and restaurants per square kilometre, as well as all the significant parties in the city. By being in the heart of the Creative Quarter, where tens of other businesses function, we believe the visitors will want to discover ALTRNTV and many more places on the map.

The interior design of ALTRNTV seems to embody sustainability. Can you elaborate on the eco-friendly materials and smart solutions used in the store?

Sustainability is deeply embedded in all our activities, from manufacturing, to the space itself. The space was designed using materials with a low environmental impact: the lampshades are made from recycled paper waste, using the papier-mâché technique, and the pillow covers for the spaces designated for the coffee area are made from an alternative material made from fruit scraps. The Signify smart lighting system is designed to optimize energy consumption and is made from recycled CDs, while the furniture from the first store was redesigned and reused in the new space.

As a social start-up, ALTRNTV has collaborated with various organizations. Can you discuss the importance of these partnerships in furthering your mission?

ALTRNTV is a circular economy project initiated by Merci Charity Association with the support of NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship and a winner of the NESsT – IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Poland and Romania Accelerator Competition 2021-2023. The financial support awarded by NESsT was essential because launching a startup in a niche market is difficult to develop. This partner not only granted financial support but also consultancy and mentorship given by IKEA employees from all over Europe. We might say we have benefited in the past two years from consultancy with a global perspective. In terms of partners, we consider our 140+ designers our community. Moreover, schools and universities are valuable partners through their professors, who schedule visits in our shop and introduce students to circular economy products, local economy businesses, social entrepreneurship, and local models of entrepreneurs. Companies from various fields are becoming important partners for our community because they slowly start adopting buying behaviours to fit their ESG goals, and we are grateful whenever they choose to buy sustainable items for their events, partners, and employees. Just recently, we delivered 200 terrariums to a corporate event as part of their policy to choose items with a smaller CO2 footprint, promote local designers, and indirectly support the local economy. And last but not least, the mass media, which supports our mission by following the development of our business and highlighting it in their articles.

With the addition of ALT COFFEE, ALTRNTV is expanding its offerings. How does the coffee shop align with the store’s sustainability ethos?

This is a very good question, and I am happy to give examples of how the coffee shop is sustainable in its core too. For example, use coffee cups and cardboard lids that are plastic-free and biodegradable. We serve water in recycled glasses, locally produced from different bottles. The napkins are made from recycled paper. We reduced water consumption by adding a filter to the local source of drinking water. We recycle the coffee waste into flower fertiliser. And we plan other changes, but visit us at 18 Constantin Mille St., 1st floor, to discover other sustainable practices.

Education seems to be a key component of ALTRNTV’s mission. How do you plan to continue engaging and educating visitors, especially young students, about sustainability?

We will continue hosting guided tours in the shop and highlight circular economy practices and products. This activity is popular throughout the year, so the Green Week school project is much more. We host professors from universities (such as ASE, the Faculty of Business Administration in Foreign Languages) with their students eager to discover how social business works and what the circular economy can do when it comes to manufacturing.

Looking forward, what do you envision for the future of the sustainable products market in Romania, and how do you see ALTRNTV contributing to that future?

We are pioneering sustainable items manufactured in Romania, and we aim to expand our community of designers to 200 in the next two years, hoping to see in the offer of products displayed also new items, such as shoes. Moreover, we will support art students (fashion design) to launch their first business with ALTRNTV, with the support of UniCredit Bank. The future we envision is one where designers look at alternative, recycled fabrics to repurpose for their products. We also hope that people and companies will focus more on helping the local economy by buying products made in Romania.

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