IKEA’s First-Ever Secondhand Store Will Be Like the As-Is Section, But Better

As part of their efforts to become more sustainable, IKEA plans to open its first-ever secondhand store in Sweden later this year. It will be stocked with furniture and home furnishings that previously had damages like dings and scratches, but have been repaired to look good as new. 

While details are slim, the assumption is that the store will offer items at a lower price compared to its more-traditional counterparts, like the as-is sections in their current locations. Just think of how much money you’ll save if you don’t mind a few bumps and bruises on that BILLY bookcase.

Aptly, it will be located in the ReTuna shopping mall, considered to be the world’s first secondhand shopping center. If successful, the brick-and-mortar store could be the first of many such locations offering damaged but perfectly-useful goods. 

The initiative is among many solutions that IKEA is pursuing to meet their goal of becoming a more sustainable, fully circular business by 2030. Earlier this year, they announced a new store in Vienna, which will have zero parking spaces (as opposed to their Burbank, California store’s 1,700 parking spaces), and be geared towards pedestrians, public transportation, and cyclists. 

“We’re looking at a change of our total business,” IKEA sustainability chief Lena Pripp-Kovac previously told Dezeen. “The aim is to remove waste. It’s a big journey but it’s also quite exciting because it’s possible.”