FEATURE | Sustainability
MALL
REVISITED
This mall is entirely dedicated to upcycling and shoppers
help supply its stores, giving used goods higher status.
B
right, shiny, and new merchandise may no longer be
the consumer draw that it once was. Nowadays, you
might have better luck with used, repurposed, and
sustainable goods. Foreshadowing eco-conscious and waste-
averse shoppers’ continued infatuation with anything second-
hand and, as a result, the growth of the share economy, the
developers behind ReTuna Återbruksgalleria (Eskilstuna,
Sweden) built their business model to take advantage of those
trends. The municipality-owned Eskilstuna Energi och Miljö’s
mall is entirely dedicated to selling reused or recycled items, as
well as goods that were organically or sustainably produced.
New plants for the garden? ReTuna has them.
ReTuna counts a dozen retailers with evocative names
such as re:Computer-IT, Ecoflor, Re:Pets, and Re Moda. All
of them rely on their customers to help stock their shelves
through recycling. On any given day, visitors can bring
in merchandise that they want to get rid of to the center.
The sorted waste goes into available containers while any
reusable toys, furniture, clothing, decorative items, and
electronics can be dropped off in the mall’s Returen depot,
where staff from the AMA (the city’s resource for activity,
motivation, and work) will figure out what’s truly usable
or not. Whatever makes the cut is redirected to the tenant
shops whose own employees will choose what they wish to
repair, convert, refine, spruce up, and ultimately sell.
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TACTICS / KID'S ENTERTAINMENT EDITION
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