The Swedish company intends to rent furniture.
The furniture giant IKEA came up with an interesting initiative. The Swedish company intends to not only sell furniture, but also rent it out. It is believed that this will allow her to make her business more environmentally friendly.
The experiment will start in February 2019, so far only in Switzerland. Initially, it is planned to rent only office furniture. If the venture is successful, then IKEA plans to start renting out kitchen furniture as well. And then the experiment will continue in other countries.
After the lease expires, the user will be able to either extend it, return the furniture, or exchange it for something new. The returned furniture will be restored, after which it will continue to be rented out. That is, it will not end up in a landfill, as is usually the case after the owners decide, for example, to update the interior.
This is not the first step IKEA has taken to make its business greener. For example, in the UK there is an initiative under which owners can return used furniture to the store, where it will be restored and donated to charity. The company is also actively investing in renewable energy and plastics processing.
It should be noted that IKEA has not been doing well lately. The company's profit has dropped significantly and it is looking for new ways to optimize business and reduce costs. Thus, the company began to experiment with store formats, opening not only suburban hypermarkets, but also compact retail outlets in the city.
