General
French supermarket group E.Leclerc strongly believes in the second-hand market: next year, it wants to sell second-hand goods in about a hundred additional branches.
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The luxury sector too is moving slowly towards sustainability: business models such as clothing rental, second-hand sales and co-ownership are some of the trends that have characterised the sector over the past year.
Fashion
Online second-hand clothing platform Vinted has raised 128 million euros to further develop its platform and accelerate its expansion. After this new capital round, the company is now valued at around a billion euros.
American fashion brand Patagonia has opened a pop-up store that will sell only second-hand clothing and its new ReCrafted collection, which has been made of irreparable clothes. The pop-up store is a physical extension of its second-hand platform WornWear.com.
The Swedish H&M chain is opening a store with a new concept in Berlin: a local hub, offering yoga and local brands. Moreover, the store also offers second-hand clothing from other brands and has a clothing borrowing service.
Following a new investment, H&M Group has acquired a majority stake in re-commerce platform Sellpy. The investment should support the platform's expansion abroad, as well as fitting in with H&M's objective of becoming more sustainable.
Lithuanian second-hand clothing and accessory platform Vinted has reached 700,000 members in Belgium and now expands to the Netherlands as well.
Zalando tests a second-hand shop for women's fashion items in Berlin, called Zircle. It is the second venture of the German e-tailer into second-hand clothing, following the app Zalando Wardrobe.
H&M is about to begin the sale of second-hand items: the fashion group will launch this new project on the Swedish website of subsidiary & Other Stories. Other brands and countries will follow.
Second-hand chain Troc.com has been acquired by Happy Cash, a similar chain from France. The takeover should put Happy Cash in a stronger position internationally and digitally.
Electronics
BackMarket, a French start-up that wants to be a marketplace for refurbished smart phones, tablets and laptops, has secured a 41 million euro investment. The most famous new investor is Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury group LVMH.
French clothing brand Petit Bateau added a new service to its app, which now allows customers to sell and buy second-hand clothing. Petit Bateau will manage the ads, but everything else is handled by the consumers themselves.
Starting next year, Samsung plans to sell refurbished versions of its own smartphones. Devices that get sent back to Samsung after their owner upgrades to the newest model will be used as a refurbished device.
