IKEA will soon rent out a whole apartment's worth of furniture for $33 a month


Even IKEA is a subscription service now.
The furniture giant is planning on test-driving a new program that allows customers to rent desks, beds and sofas, reports Reuters.
The program, which will pilot in IKEA's top 30 markets, is geared toward consumers who move homes frequently but struggle to resupply furniture for each move. The subscription-based service is also a bid to appeal to customers with environmental concerns who want a more sustainable shopping experience.
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"You should be able to have a lovely home, and a good conscience, and you should be able to afford it," Jesper Brodin, chief executive of the IKEA-owning Ingka Group, told Reuters.
In the Netherlands, IKEA is allowing students to rent a bed, desk, table and chairs for a monthly rate of 30 euros ($33.68), per Reuters.
Rental services are increasingly popular among millennial shoppers, with designer clothing rental service Rent the Runway recently announcing a partnership with Williams-Sonoma to rent home decor, per Reuters.
IKEA's venture into rentals helps accomplish the company's goals of being affordable, convenient and sustainable, IKEA finance chief Juvencio Maeztu told Reuters.
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Marianne is The Week’s Social Media Editor. She is a native Tennessean and recent graduate of Ohio University, where she studied journalism and political science. Marianne has previously written for The Daily Beast, The Crime Report, and The Moroccan Times.
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