IKEA to extend test period of the second-hand IKEA shop in Sweden

The world’s first second-hand IKEA shop opened in Eskilstuna, Sweden, in November 2020, with the goal of testing and developing how the second-hand segment may help extend the life of IKEA products and contribute to IKEA’s transition to a circular business. The test period has been extended for another year.

Lynn Walker, Customer Meeting Points Manager, Inter IKEA Systems B.V., the worldwide IKEA franchisor, said that they can take further learnings from the extended testing period to see if and how the second-hand shop could be integrated into the IKEA customer meeting point portfolio, to understand if this solution has the potential to scale-up to the many IKEA markets around the world.

The secondhand shop is a collaboration between the global IKEA franchisor and the local IKEA retailer in Sweden, with the goal of exploring and testing how IKEA can inspire and make it easy and accessible for the many people who want to buy second-hand IKEA furniture and contribute to the circular economy. All things offered in this one-of-a-kind IKEA customer test shop are reused or recycled, and old furniture is given a second chance. They deserve a second chance, and many things, with a little love and care, have a lot more to offer a new owner.

Helene Davidsson, Sustainability Manager, Inter IKEA Systems B.V., said that to continue testing together how they can extend the life of their products and to understand more about the factors that go into deciding whether to donate or recycle them. They will continue to build on what they learned from this year’s test as part of building our puzzle in how they reach and interact with their consumers, enabling a more circular customer journey.

The ability to repair, update, and adapt furniture at various phases of its life is one of the primary facilitators for extending the life of items. IKEA’s goal is for all of its goods to be created on circular principles and made of renewable and recycled materials by ten years, while also making it easier for customers to extend the life of their furniture and products. It is vital to limit the amount of wasted IKEA products by repairing and repackaging broken pieces in order to extend the life of the furniture. Last year, IKEA stores throughout the world distributed over 14 million spare parts to customers so they could extend the life of their IKEA products, and over 40 million things were given away.