Outlet website Rehome’s project to sell nearly 200 ex-display kitchens from John Lewis has been 100% successful – with nothing ending up in landfill – say co-founders Helen and Phil Lord. Amelia Thorpe finds out more.
There must have been a buzz of excitement when one particular email landed in the inbox at ex-display and used kitchen outlet Rehome, presenting a unique opportunity. "It was from the team at John Lewis, looking for a sustainable way of dealing with 189 discontinued kitchens on display in their stores," explains co-founder Helen Lord.
The leading UK department store John Lewis & Partners had collaborated with Mereway on its kitchen offering, before Mereway’s demise in early 2024. While looking for new suppliers (it announced the relaunch of its fitted kitchen service in October, after signing partnerships with Symphony and Omega), the team needed to find a home for all the ex-displays, spread across 25 stores nationwide. "They wanted to ensure that nothing went to landfill," explains Lord, "and to find a partner that could remove all the displays after retail hours, working hand in glove with their programme of replacement."
In a meticulously organised operation, described by Phil Lord, Rehome’s co-founder, as "challenging and complex", the Rehome crew were able to dismantle, remove and deliver the displays to their new owners (to minimise double handling, costs and potential for damage), all whilst conforming to the retailer’s strict health and safety standards and critical pathway. Due to commercial pressures, the operation had to take place within a 6-week window, so how did Rehome manage the onward sale of the kitchens?
"The first phase was to co-ordinate photography visits and inspections in 25 stores," says Helen. "Then the pictures were loaded on to the Rehome site and we were very active on social media, with a big boost when one of our Instagram reels was picked up by the Daily Mail and went viral."
As a result, some 70% of the kitchens were sold prior to removal from the stores. And of the remaining 30%? "15 went to John Lewis’ nominated charities and the rest were sold over the next few weeks, totalling 189 in all," notes Helen. "Operationally, the project took 3 months and was deemed a 100% success, with 0% going to landfill... That’s 207 tonnes of carbon savings and cabinet re-use equivalent of 169 trees saved."
"As a result of John Lewis’ commitment and ours, we genuinely worked in partnership to achieve good communication, transparency and were able to plan for anything that might disrupt the critical path," says Helen. The experience is already proving useful – Rehome is expecting to start work imminently on the sale of approximately 150 kitchen displays on behalf of Nobilia from Homebase stores.
The increasing demands of legislation as well as the financial cost of destruction and ethical issues make rehome and re-use solutions essential for the KBB industry, says Phil. Rehome is working with waste management company Biffa to minimise product going to landfill, so that the materials used in a kitchen that cannot be rehomed can be repurposed (MDF or wood to biomass, metal hinges to recycling). "Biffa is not just a waste management company – it has a whole remit to drive forward the circular economy," he explains.
For a business founded a decade ago, Rehome now turns over some £7million annually, enjoys BCorp certification, and has partnerships to with brands from Magnet to Tom Howley, and most recently with Miele to offer the appliance brand’s ex-display products as a ‘brand compliant’ outlet. Says Helen: "We are a future-focused business, working hard to support our industry."
