Emmy sales boxes in all Sokos department stores and the first Emmy store at Tampere Sokos

Finland’s largest second-hand fashion online store, Emmy, and Sokos are starting a collaboration expected to significantly increase clothing recycling and the market for used clothing in Finland. All 20 Sokos department stores will have Emmy sales boxes. In addition, by April, Tampere Sokos will gradually open a completely unique sustainable fashion floor in Finland, featuring an Emmy second-hand section as well as clothing repair and customization services.

From now on, customers can bring clothes intended for sale to Emmy drop-off points in all Sokos stores.

Sokos is the first department store chain in Finland to offer clothing recycling opportunities to customers on this scale. The aim of the collaboration is to extend the lifespan of clothes, accessories, and footwear, and to make it easier to recycle usable and good-condition clothing. There are valuable treasures lying unused in Finnish wardrobes.

“We are looking for ways to increase the appreciation of clothing, extend its lifespan, and care for it in a way that is easy for the customer. By bringing sustainable consumption services closer to everyday shopping, the threshold for using them is lowered. This is something our customers have also wished for,” explains Päivi Juntunen, Development Director of S Group’s department store and specialty store trade.

“The collaboration is historically significant for the circular economy. Of the four-billion-euro clothing market, the share of used clothing is currently only 1–2 percent, and we estimate that this new collaboration could increase the used clothing market by up to 40 percent. This is the largest expansion operation of the used clothing market in Finland to date,” explains Timo Huhtamäki, CEO of Emmy Clothing Company Oy.

Something completely new in Finland: clothing repair, customization, local fashion, and second hand in a department store. This spring, Tampere Sokos will open an unprecedented sustainable fashion floor, which will also house Emmy’s first brick-and-mortar second-hand fashion store. The second-hand section, with over a thousand products, has placed special emphasis on presentation, ensuring a wide variety of sizes, colors, and styles. There will also be new types of services, such as clothing repair sewing, fashion made from recycled materials, and a collection point for surplus textiles.

The local fashion designers’ DesignOnTampere section will also be more prominently and extensively featured. “Our sustainable fashion floor is something completely new in Finland. In Tampere, we are now taking an important step forward in sustainable consumption together with our pioneering partners and customers. We major players have an important responsibility to develop and create new kinds of sustainable fashion and circular economy services for a better tomorrow,” says Mia Häkkinen, Development Manager of Service Business at Pirkanmaa Cooperative.

The new sustainable fashion floor at Tampere Sokos will open gradually by April. Lessons and experiences from the department will be collected for the entire department store chain. The collaboration between Sokos and Emmy is also intended to deepen in the future. Sokos helps customers find their own style and make sustainable clothing choices, as well as develops new ways to bring sustainable consumption solutions closer to everyday shopping. Promoting the circular economy is an important part of S Group’s responsibility program, one key goal of which is to promote sustainable consumption together with customers.

How to sell your branded clothes on Emmy via the Sokos sales box:

• Start by creating a sales dispatch in Emmy’s online service.
• Select branded clothes in good condition and up to date for sale.
  
• Pack the washed clothes neatly in a reusable bag or a strong plastic bag.
• Slip a note with your seller number written on it inside the bag.
• Mark the EMMY code you received by email on the outside of the package.
• Deliver your sales batch to the nearest Sokos sales box.
• Choose Emmy money as your payment method and get 20% extra!

On the sustainable fashion floor at Sokos Tampere, you’ll find:

• Emmy: A high-quality second-hand fashion section and a drop-off point for fashion intended for sale
• Sustinare: Clothing, footwear, and accessory repair and maintenance services, alterations by atelier work, and customization services.
• Fashion made from recycled materials.
• DesignOnTampere: A section for top fashion brands by designers from Pirkanmaa.
• Kuopus: Children’s clothing and accessories
• Pirkanmaan Jätehuolto & Nextiili: Collection point for discarded textiles