Selfridges, John Lewis go greener

Retail giants are facing a change in customers’ behaviour during the

pandemic.

Thus, Selfridges is now repairing and reselling items, such

as handbags, as part of “Project Earth” and John Lewis will try

renting a range of furniture with prices starting from £17 a month.

Selfridges is announcing that it is looking into repairing and reselling

products as part of plans to radically improve its sustainability.

Selfridges said its proposals are part of the “Project Earth”

sustainability initiative. It will experiment for eight weeks in stores and

online, working with 300 brand partners.

Global managing director of Selfridges Group, Anne Pitcher, said that

this year consumption habits have been “broken by the pandemic”,

with customers taking greater consideration of the environmental

impact of their shopping choices and stated that “Supporting change in

the way people shop is essential to building a more sustainable

business.”, as Selfridges is also committing to using materials from

certified, sustainable sources by 2025.

John Lewis is offering the option to rent furniture as the result of a

partnership with the world’s largest product rental marketplace, Fat

Llama.

Shoppers can choose from 50 items with prices starting at £17 a

month for a desk or chair rented for 12 months and rising for larger

goods on shorter contracts. Customers will be able to rent John Lewis

furniture, including desks, chairs, dining tables, and sofas, for three,

six or twelve months, and have the option to buy them at any time

with payments already made deducted from the purchase price.

Johnathan Marsh, director of home at John Lewis, said that renting

furniture offers customers “the flexibility to enjoy living with a bold,

trend-led piece of furniture that they may not want forever”, with “the

peace of mind that they are making more sustainable choices”.

Fat Llama’s co-founder and chief executive Chaz Englander said: “As

we have seen in the US, renting furniture instead of owning it is

becoming the new normal for millennials, a generation moving house

every 12 months.

“With this being our first step into furniture rental, it was important for

us to find a partner that could supply high-quality furniture at scale.

John Lewis could not have been a better fit.”

By Maria Peftouloglou