Sustainability bosses at Ikea and Decathlon in the UK envisage a “significant opportunity” to raise awareness of and ramp up consumer engagement in the circular economy as part of the companies’ recently announced partnership.
The retailers announced last week that Decathlon will be opening a 1,188 sq m space with a standalone unit and dedicated customer entrance at Ikea’s Croydon store this spring.
Talking to Green Retail World (GRW), Chris Allen, director of sustainability at Decathlon UK, and Greg Lucas, UK & Ireland sustainability manager for Ikea, said their teams played a role in bringing the concept to life and agreed it presents a real chance to support and augment each other’s already quite comprehensive work in building more circular business models within their respective organisations.
Allen told this publication: “Between us, we’ve been discussing for a while about what opportunities there could be to take the likes of used stock, or buyback schemes, or repair schemes to more people.
“We know we need to reach more people, and we know we need to make reuse and repair more accessible. Ikea and Decathlon have a similar demographic and audience, and using spaces like this I think we can bring our expertise together and do more with it.”
Allen suggested it could be in the form of collaborative trade-in or buy back events, and there is an opportunity to use the tie-up to understand what is required to make repair services in retail function better.
Lucas told GRW: “We’re both purpose-led organisations.
“To be able to partner with Decathlon is a fantastic opportunity for accelerating a circular economy – probably starting with buyback and resell – but also learning as well.”
He continued: “I think there’s a great opportunity for us to put our heads together in Croydon and beyond, and look at making circular services more accessible and affordable for the many.”
Nothing is set in stone yet about how the space will look and function, but both Allen and Lucas suggested there is a chance for the in-store communication and marketing to showcase to consumers what a circular economy is and why it is a positive consideration environmentally.
“It’s a really significant opportunity to amplify the message,” Lucas noted, adding that raising awareness of the benefits of the circular economy and access to it have remained a significant challenge for wider society, if not necessarily for Ikea customers per se.
The two sustainability bosses had been on stage at Retail Week and The Grocer’s Live 2026 event in London, discussing their individual retailer approaches to repair, resale, and general circular economy strategy.
Both mentioned challenges with making product rental work sufficiently well to roll out such services more widely – indeed, Decathlon shelved its offering last year after launching it across the UK in April 2023.
During the session, expertly hosted by Retail Week features editor Ellis Hawthorne, the sustainability bosses talked up the commercial potential of the circular economy – it certainly is not a cost centre, but can be a real revenue driver when deployed correctly within retailers.
“Our second life and second-hand products are our lowest entry point into Ikea, in terms of price,” Lucas remarked.
“They’re always the most affordable and generally we’re reaching new customers through being able to offer second life. Is there cannibalisation with new products? Yes, but it is really insignificant.”
He added: “It drives visitation. For Ikea visitors coming in three or four times a year, we see visitation double for individuals aware of buyback and resell – and they use the vouchers they receive [due to their involvement in using the buyback scheme].”
Allen reflected on how in the wider market new bike sales and used bike sales reached parity, last year – just five or six years ago there were three times as many new bikes sold as preloved ones.
“We’re seeing the shift in consumer behaviour and the opportunity in the market,” he told the audience.
Decathlon opening in Ikea Croydon marks the first time the furniture retailer will host another global brand in one of its ‘blue boxes’ in the UK.
However, Ikea has created similar shop-in-shops in other territories. In Austria, the company is investing €11 million in the biggest revamp of its store in Klagenfurt since it opened 17 years ago – and approximately 28,000 sq ft will be made available to discount home and garden specialist Thomas Philipps.
Elsewhere, in Sweden, Ikea has launched a pilot with Kjell & Company, a Nordic consumer electronics retailer, in its stores in Stockholm and Kalmar.
Javier Quiñones, commercial manager at Ingka Group Ikea, said of the Decathlon partnership last week: “Our ambition is to become as accessible as ever and give customers more reasons to visit us wherever they are on their home journey.
“By testing new ways of using our retail space together with other retailers, we want to further evolve our stores into inviting destinations that reflect what customers want today – convenience, inspiration and an expanded offer.”
During the current financial year and through 2026, Ingka said it is investing more than €5 billion in opening new locations and improving its existing Ikea stores across most of its 32 markets.
[image credit: Ingka Group]
