REVIVE: OUR UNIQUE RESALE PROGRAMME IS LIVE
Our new sofa take-back programme, designed to reduce the number of sofas going into landfill, has launched and is being rolled out in all our showrooms. We will take back old Finline sofas and give them a makeover, working with members of the social enterprise group Aiséirí on the restorations. These upcycled sofas have been completely striped down, re-padded, re-sprung, re-foamed and re-upholstered. Old sofas, new life! They are on sale from our new Dublin showrooms, as good as new but costing a fraction of the price.
Kilian Finane was interviewed by the Sunday Times about the programme recently, as Finline helps to reduce waste. In case you missed it, take a read…
Circular economy start-ups can thrive in throwaway society
Upcycled sofas, spent-grain snacks, coffee grinds-based exfoliating bars – meet the Irish entrepreneurs ensuring less of our waste ends up in landfill.
The term “circular economy”, where one person’s waste is another’s material, was coined in 1988. By that stage Finline Furniture in Co. Laois, had been practicing it for a decade.
The company is run by the brothers Kilian and Ciaran Finane and founded by their parents, Kieran and Bridget, in 1979.
There are an estimated 500,000 Finline Sofas in circulation and, from the beginning, the business offered a service that would allow customers to bring back their old Finline suite to have it re-covered, rather than throw it out and buy a new one.
In recent years it has expanded its offering, launching a range called REVIVE, which buys the sofa back for a modest price, strips it down and recovers it, typically using recycled polyester – which itself comes from recycled plastic water bottles.
Its REVIVE range then sells at a discount “typically 20 per cent lower than the lowest price point in store”, Killian says. “It’s very attractive to someone who wants to buy something green and long lasting.”
The business, which employs 75 people, has seen its turnover grow by 10 percent in the past 12 months. It is moving to new showrooms, across the road from its existing one on the Long Mile Road, trebling in size.
While upcycling suites is only a small part of what Finline does – the company produces 50 suites in a week, and only two or three are re-covered – it appeals to a growing number of customers. “In the last three or four years everything sustainable has come on to the radar,” Killian says.
“There isn’t as much margin, so we don’t make much money on them, but we are holding onto customers and offering a service that people want.”
The idea of sending a sofa to landfill makes customers uncomfortable, “because it’s just too big and bulky” Kilian says.
It doesn’t sit well with him either. “We consider it a waste to put something into landfill that so much work and expertise went into,” he adds.
The brothers recently participated in a Sustainability Leaders Programme, developed by Skillsnet and Enterprise Ireland, and have just applied to join a venture programme run by Circuliére, the industry network for accelerating Ireland’s circular economy. “We’re knee-deep in this at the moment,” Killian says.
