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