Published 21 December 2021 • Inter IKEA newsroom
Test period of Sweden's secondhand IKEA shop extended
In November 2020, the world´s first secondhand IKEA shop opened in Eskilstuna, Sweden, to test and develop how the secondhand segment can contribute to prolonging the life of IKEA products and contribute to moving IKEA towards a circular business. The test period has been extended by one more year.
"With the prolonged testing period we can take further learnings to see if and how the secondhand shop could be integrated in the IKEA customer meeting point portfolio, to understand if this solution has the potential to scale-up to the many IKEA markets globally", says Lynn Walker, Customer meeting points manager, Inter IKEA Systems B.V., the worldwide IKEA franchisor.
The secondhand shop is a collaboration between the global IKEA franchisor and the local IKEA retailer in Sweden, to explore and test how IKEA can inspire and make it easy and accessible for the many people to buy secondhand IKEA furniture and contribute to a circular economy. In this unique IKEA customer test shop, all products sold are reused or recycled, where old furniture is given a second chance. A second chance they deserve and often products also, after some love and care, have much more to give to a new owner.
"To continue the test together how we can further prolong the life of our products and to learn more about reason when choosing to donate products or recycling them. We will continue to build on what we have learnt from this year's test as part of laying our puzzle in how we reach and interact with our customers enabling a more circular customer journey," says Helene Davidsson, Sustainability Manager, Inter IKEA Systems B.V.
One of the key enablers to prolong the life of products is the possibility to repair, upgrade and adapt furniture through its different life stages. Within ten years, the ambition is for all products at IKEA to be designed based on circular principles and made of renewable and recycled materials, at the same time as it must be easier for customers to prolong the life of their furniture and products. To prolong the life of IKEA furniture, it is necessary to reduce the number of discarded products, by repairing and repackaging damaged items. Last year IKEA retailers across the world provided more than 14 million spare parts to enable customers to prolong the life of IKEA products, and more than 40 million products were given a new life through the As-is areas in the store.