Almost anyone who has had to do a small repair at home, from hanging a picture to cutting a plank of wood, has found themselves in the position of needing a suitable tool. If it were just a hammer, it’s okay; But look at having to buy a jigsaw to use it a couple of times, or a machine to clean the sofa fabric once a year!
Like these, there would be many examples and, surely, to more than one and two the possibility of renting equipment for DIY, garden or renovation work would seem like a good idea. In fact, there have been some small and very localized initiatives to share those types of tools and occasionally used items.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Leroy Merlin, being specialists in equipment and tools for home conditioning, having stores throughout Spain and a functioning online sales channel, has launched an initiative that responds to these types of situations. This is how Cristina Sánchez, responsible for Positive Impact at Leroy Spain, sums it up: “Since 2024, we have been promoting a rental service for tools and machinery for occasional use.”
Three objectives, one solution
This is about covering three objectives, one “as an alternative to offer our clients more flexible and sustainable possibilities in the use of tools and equipment”; two, “as constant improvement of processes, supply and availability”; and, three, “it is part of the company’s circular economy strategy.”
The tools and products available at are focused on both “private clients who need a tool for a specific project at home and, on the other hand, for more advanced users or professionals who may need specific machinery on a temporary basis. For us, Sánchez continues, the key is to offer a useful and flexible solution, adapted to each need.
Thus, among the products offered there are rotary hammers, floor polishers or stoneware cutters, as well as cleaning equipment, drills, garden care products, barbecues or parasols.
The reception, comments the board, has been very positive, with sustained growth in recent years: in 2025, 12,000 products were rented, with a 42% increase in turnover. For Sánchez, these data “confirm the interest in more flexible and circular consumption models.”
This service is available “in around twenty stores on the Peninsula, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands and through online channels. “The client can select the tool according to their needs, receive advice and rent it for the time required, with a simple and fast process.”
Experience shows that “demand may occasionally be higher for products linked to seasonal needs,” such as parasols or barbecues; But, in any case, “although demand is quite homogeneous throughout the country, it tends to be somewhat higher in urban areas and areas with high home renovation or improvement activity.”
Second Life
Leroy Merlin’s other big commitment to the circular economy is Second Life, which is about reducing waste, optimizing resources and promoting more responsible consumption,” highlights Cristina Sánchez. The objective is “to give a new opportunity to products that, due to returns, packaging damage, small aesthetic imperfections or reconditioning processes, remain fully functional, but cannot be marketed through the usual channels.”
Second Life has its own space in 97% – the plan is to be in all of them in the short term – of the company’s stores in Spain, “because our objective is to bring these circular solutions closer to the customer and facilitate access to their use”, where the available items are displayed “because transparency is one of the pillars of the project,” Sánchez emphasizes.
The reception has been very positive: «with more than 198,000 products sold in 2025 through Segunda Vida and a sales volume of 3.5 million euros. These are results that show that, increasingly, customers value alternatives that combine savings, functionality and reduction of environmental impact.”