Ikea to Open Its First Second-Hand Shop

Ikea has announced it will open its first second-hand Ikea store in Stockholm, Sweden.

The second-hand store will be supplied with IKEA products that have been repaired and restored, and will cost consumers a fraction of the price (last year Ikea gave 47 million products a new life through AS IS departments). 

The new test project that will be re-evaluated regularly, will open in a shopping center dedicated only to retailers selling reused, organic or sustainably produced products. The shopping center, ReTuna, has gained international acclaim since opening five years ago and is located next to the local recycling station.

“Our planet is our common home,” said Jonas Carlehed, sustainability manager IKEA Retail Sweden. “We can only create a more sustainable world if we do it together with others. Now we’re joining forces with local actors, who share our view on sustainability, to gain knowledge and insight that can make a difference globally.” 

The second-hand shop takes IKEA one step closer to its goal of paving the way for a shift towards a circular business model. Within 10 years, IKEA has decided that all products will be designed based on circular principles and made by renewable and recycled materials, at the same time as it will be easier for customers to prolong the life of their furniture and products.

“At IKEA we don’t want to merely be a part of the sustainability movement – we want to lead it. If we want to reach our sustainability goals, we have to challenge ourselves and test our ideas. The climate crisis cannot be solved in theory, it has to be solved in practice,” said Carlehed.

Ikea said working with ReTuna will give it the chance to better understand why certain IKEA products turn into waste, what condition they are in when discarded, how people reason when deciding to throw away products, and if there’s an interest in buying the products if Ikea manages to save them.