Humanscale launches first branded online store for refurbished office furniture

Humanscale is the first office furniture brand to debut a circular economy program that offers online sales of its refurbished products. 

In doing so, the company aims to support its sustainability goals and help reduce some of the 17 billion pounds of furniture that pile into landfills each year in the United States. Landfills hold 80 percent of the nations’ discarded furniture. Another 19.5 percent reach incinerators, according to the EPA.

The New York-based company launched the so-called “Refreshed” circular-economy program on Aug. 1 with its “Freedom” chair. The ergonomic design has seated executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook. 

As more Americans work from home, Humanscale is offering a path for furniture no longer desired in corporate offices to reach smaller businesses and individual consumers. The raft of vacant offices because of remote working since pandemic has certainly left no shortage of available used office furniture.

“The Freedom chair is 25 years old this year,” Humanscale Chief Sustainability Officer Jane Abernethy told Trellis. “That got us thinking, that’s 25 years of product … out there in the marketplace. We could just start getting them back, and they would be mostly made, or at least half made. That’s a better starting point than just starting from absolute scratch every time.”

Abernethy described sustainability progress rather than profits as the primary motivation for the Refreshed program. 

“The world is not set up for circularity,” she added. “So just taking these first steps to say, ‘Hey, can we do this part of it?’ starts to make those changes for the next steps to be taken, and starts to make it a lot more possible for other folks in our industry to do this as well.”

Used office furniture market is growing fast

Globally, office furniture sales will expand to an estimated $99.6 billion in 2032 from an estimated $57.5 billion in 2025, according to Fortune Business Insights.

The market for pre-owned furniture is also growing at a steady clip, according to Grand View Research:

• Commercial goods make up less than one quarter of the $34 billion secondhand furniture market worldwide.
• Sales of commercial furniture will expand from 2024 to 2030 at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1 percent, compared with 7.7 percent for used furniture overall.
• Furniture resale will grow each year by 6.6 percent in the U.S. alone, driven by consumer preference for sustainable goods and the ease of online sales.

The space is traditionally dominated by local resellers, including liquidators, small retailers and auction houses. The widely recognized longtime leader in office furniture remanufacturing is 40-year-old Davies Office Furniture, based in Albany, New York. A newer player, ReSeat, of San Jose, California, obtains used furnishings from West Coast tech firms. It offers Humanscale’s Freedom chair for $285 to $498.

The paths to resell furniture for homes are more numerous and include corporate programs. IKEA’s Buy Back and Resell program, for example, is in its third year in the US.

Doing the recommerce itself

Humanscale, based in New York City, engaged workers across 10 departments to launch the Refreshed program.

The inventory for the Refreshed program is on its way, used furniture being supplied by a large architecture firm and a technology giant that Humanscale is declining at this time to identify. Those from the technology firm in California wound up in Humanscale’s factory in Nogales, Mexico, for refurbishing. To reduce transportation, Humanscale refreshes chairs in the factory closest to their point of origin.

Companies that return furniture to Humanscale receive credit for future purchases.

“We created all the … systems for how to properly accept a chair, using as few replacement components as possible while still having it be able to stand up to a five-year warranty and be on brand,” Abernethy said.

Humanscale is doing the recommerce work itself. In the apparel industry, in which branded resale sites are flourishing brands tend to use third parties such as Trove and Tersus Solutions, to clean up and list used items for sale.

At its manufacturing site, Humanscale sanitizes each chair, then breaks down the components including handles, seats and pistons. It separates cushions from the seat shells and back rests. Finally, it removes and retouches parts such as the spring, slider and bar.

The refurbished chair ships directly from the factory to the customer.

Humanscale plans to expand Refreshed to offer a complete line of used products. Monitor arms and desks are probably the next items.

Beyond the Refreshed program, Humanscale is partnering with three other businesses on “infrastructure projects to try and help materials flow better,” Abernethy said. “We’re working with folks on how to set up infrastructure that makes it a lot more feasible and easier, not just for Humanscale, but that could apply broadly to the furniture industry or even possibly to the building industry.”

Inspiring other companies

Efforts decades ago by office furniture makers to launch sales of refurbished goods failed to get off the ground. What’s different now? The term “circular economy” has become broadly recognized, said Lisa Whited, an advocate of “circular” workplaces and author of the book “Work Better: Save the Planet.”

“Gen Z, who sniff out greenwashing a mile away and recognize authentic circularity efforts, will make up about 24 percent of the workforce by 2025,” she added. “It is a smart recruitment strategy for businesses to create circular workplaces for their future employees.”

“It is a great example for other furniture manufacturers to follow — and is exactly the type of initiative we need to have more of in the U.S. in order to create a circular marketplace for office furniture that has a broad following and wide distribution,” she said.

Humanscale’s emissions targets are approved by the Science Based Target Initiative. Among its other sustainability credentials:

• It obtained certification as a B Corporation in April, meeting strict environmental and social standards.
• The company diverted 94 percent of its waste from landfills in 2022, without incineration.
• Its factories are designated as Zero Waste by the third-party TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) program, run by the organization Green Business Certification.
• 70 percent of its products are Climate Positive certified by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). 
• Some of its chairs feature ocean plastic upcycled from fishing nets.
• Humanscale shares the ingredients in its furniture. It has eliminated toxic chemicals, including PFAS and halogenated flame retardants.

“Now more than ever, it is clear that circularity is essential in our fight against climate change,” said Bob King, founder and CEO of Humanscale, in a statement. “As we continue to make a positive impact on our planet with Refreshed, we hope to inspire other companies to follow suit.”