When you are home, online and bored, then it is the best moment to collect information on where to shop more sustainable. Get ready to know all the “recycling” retailers in Kiel. 30 cheap second hand shops populate the sailing city. Everyone looked for cheaper solutions at least once. Or the more sustainable ones. Or both! Here is the break down of Kiel’s second hand shops.

The shops are organized into: clothes, furniture, electronics, flea markets and websites. Sustainability and the Ki-map will wait you at the end.


#Kiclothes

This section is dedicated to stores which mainly deal clothes, which may also offer other original, vintage and rare items.

Glückslokal ————————————————————

The shop employs an innovative giving and receiving method that promotes more conscious consumption. For a 5 euros monthly membership fee, members can take three items at the time, without any exchange or purchase. Can browse two afternoons a week and two weekends a month. And can also leave used objects. You can subscribe online with a little formal PDF document and a sign or directly in the shop, engaging in interesting chats with the owners.

The Glückslokal was founded in 2014 as a student project in the Alte Mu by Nina Lage-Diestel. It started as a yooweedoo project in Gaarden. Now it is integral part of the Alte Mu site. Here, used things are given a new life. “Everyone is talking about sustainability. With us you can live it actively!” quoted the Glück-team on their website. What you find:

  • Clothes 
  • Shoes
  • Accessories
  • Bed linen
  • Everything for the kitchen
  • Small electrical appliances
  • Toys and board games
  • Books
  • Bags 
  • Cameras
  • CD-DVDs

Kiloladen —————————————————————

One of the favourites and most well known students’ second hand retailers: the two “Kilo-shops”. Instead of selling by fixed prices, here, second-hand clothes are purchased by weight. It is a 2 weeks rhythm. Starting with every 2nd week, everyday, the price per kilo gets 1€ cheaper. A board at the counter informs about the prices. 
The shops sell only clothes, but by kilo!

First floor second hand ———————————————-

Outside of the city but easily reachable with buses and bikes. It’s the perfect combination of natural outskirts, sustainable shopping and environmentally friendly wheels.
The shop deals only clothes for women.

Kunde zu Kunde – Stefans Laden ———————————-

Second-hand men’s fashion. Stefan’s shop is a kind of eBay on a small scale. Also you can sell your own objects. If you are a creative artisan or if you are a photographer, looking for visibility and shelves, here you can find both. Rent a shelf and wait for your customers. Remember Stefan’s sales commission is normally at 50%. What you find:

  • Clothes
  • All kind of jeans
  • Greeting cards
  • Calendars
  • Homemade slippers
  • Embroidered decorative pillows
  • Books
  • CD-DVDs
  • Small electrical appliances
  • House decorations

Magica 1stclass2ndhand Damenmode —————————-

“Your first class second hand shop” in Laboe. With over 3000 pieces of second hand fashion for women. From high quality second hand dresses to everyday clothes. What you find:

  • Clothes
  • Shoes
  • Accessories
  • Bags
  • Belts

La Certa First Class Second-Hand Boutique ———————

Fashionable clothes for women. In the bright room, the high-quality items of clothing are ordered very clearly, sometimes not by size, but by color. “I made my little Italian palazzo here” says the owner, Maria Certa, laughing. She has always bought second hand herself as well. What you find:

  • Clothes
  • Shoes
  • Jewellery
  • Bags
  • Belts
  • Accessories
  • Evening dresses
  • Unusual clothing styles

MAXI Second-Hand-Mode ——————————————-

Women dresses size 40 and more. The owners’ philosophy on the website: “Chubby women are at least as attractive as slim women!”. Other then selling, they also accept used clothes from their customers (maximum of 10 pieces). What you find:

  • Dresses
  • Clothes
  • Bags
  • Shoes
  • Accessories (scarves and jewellery)
  • Shoes and boots

ProSeco —————————————————————–

“Slow Shopping” is the motto. The tidy shop charms with precious details and big brand names. What you find:

  • High-quality dresses (not older than 2 years) 
  • Brands: Jil Sander, Bogner, Louboutin, Hermes, Burberry
  • High-quality bags

Gold Kleid ————————————————————–

Scandinavian second-hand women’s fashion. When you enter the atmosphere feels like a cosy private living room. “Do I always have to buy everything new?”. This question brought Anna to open her own second hand shop in 2014. Also every piece of furniture is second hand. What you find:

  • Scandinavian fashion clothes
  • Brands: Noa Noa, Saint Tropez, Odd Molly
  • Accessories
  • Bags
  • Belts

#Kifurniture

Here are the shops in Kiel which only deal with furniture and its up-cycling process.

Antikea —————————————————————–

If Ikea furniture is boring, have a look here. In the small shop old furniture have been individually upgraded and customised with incredible results.

Stöbern & Wohnen —————————————————-

Their website is not available but is one of the most best reviewed furniture second hand shops in Kiel. We just have to get there and check it out.


#Kielectric

One Two Buy ———————————————————-

Here is how the shop has been standing for over 20 years: high quality electric items’ brands at cheap prices. And not only! They also have a second hand bicycles shop right on the opposite side of the road. What you find:

  • Cell phones
  • Notebooks
  • Xbox, Nintendo, Wii and Playstation
  • Televisions
  • Hi-fi speakers
  • Car radios
  • Navigation devices
  • Musical instruments
  • Accessories
  • Bicycles
  • Tools
  • Kitchen items
  • Coffee machines
  • CD-DVDs
  • Films
  • Video games

The owner, Michael Petersen’s philosophy is: “buy quality at good prices and sell cheaper than usual”. Here, retailers buy and sell almost everything – except clothing and furniture – that has a resale value.

Hört-sich-gut-an —————————————————-

A few hi-fi fanatics founded the company in December 1975. Student circles often needed good and affordable hi-fi equipment. That is how the shop quickly created a notorious name for itself. It collected bought and sold audio brands that now don’t even produce or exist anymore. These unique pieces can still be found in the shop. Today, they still provide sustainable quality products, paired with sound advice and support.

A. JAN Elektronik An- und Verkauf ——————————

Every kind of small or medium size electronic device can be found here. Not musical instruments, fridges or washing machines.


#Kiflea

This section is dedicated to open air markets or big warehouse style retailers where you can basically find everything on a second hand sale and, again, cheap.

Flea markets ——————————————————-

All the markets planned for May have been cancelled. We hope for better days in June and July. But currently nothing is sure. What is sure is that the flea markets are the recycling, reuse and sustainable shops par excellence. You can literally find everything. You never know with what you may come back home. The selection is usually huge and with a bit of skills you can also negotiate good prices. Check the official website for where and when to find them. Locations in Kiel:

  • An der Hörn
  • Asmus-Bremer-Platz,
  • Citti-Markt
  • Europaplatz
  • Fleethörn
  • Holstenplatz
  • Holstenstraße
  • Hornbach
  • Ikea site
  • Karstadt car park
  • Kaufland Kiel Mettenhof
  • Kronshagen
  • Rathausplatz
  • Tierheim Uhlenkrog
  • Toom hardware store
  • Willestraße

Treasury Flintbek —————————————————-

The owner, Stefan Schmidt, has been entitled, in 2013: “the Baron of the Junk”. One of the biggest second hand flea-stores in Germany. You must turn your instincts on and become a treasure hunter to find what you like. Here you may find special household items to decorate and refresh your house. The retailers also buy your old used items and can also deliver purchases directly to your address. Customers can always negotiate prices and sometimes afford things that might otherwise exceed their budget.

Galerie Seepferdechen ———————————————-

Beautiful everyday items are created from used everyday objects. Self-made creations of various types are exhibited and sold. One of the focal points is the recycling, re-functioning and upgrading of old, no longer used objects and materials. Own creations and works by artists active in the Alte Mu are exhibited. Also, all Kiel artists, hobbyists, etc. can rent exhibition shelves in the “Galerie”. 

Textil recycling Kiel ————————————————–

With textile donations, from private individuals and companies, these artisans create great new products. Shirts, pants and skirts become fragrant pillows or trendy toilet bags. Wool sweaters and jackets are transformed into yoga pillows. What you find:

  • Colourful phone cases
  • Yoga pillows
  • Fluffy hot water bottle covers
  • Covers for bicycle saddles
  • Document bags
  • Bookmarks
  • CD covers

All textile recycling products are made from recycled raw materials or residues. In 2014, the Textil recycling shop received the “Kiel City Environmental Award” (Umweltpreis) for the “Gute Karten” project. This project aims to re-up-cycle old used geographical maps, donated from schools, to produce new functional bags.

RotKreuzMärkte —————————————————–

There are 4 Red Cross markets in Kiel. They accept donations of used objects and they re-sell them. The retailers also accept volunteers who want to give a “kick-start” to their shop assistant career. They devolve most of their profits to funds like: Kiel Children’s Aid Fund. What you find:

  • Clothes
  • Jackets
  • Dresses
  • Shoes
  • Accessories (hats, gloves, belts, scarves and ties)
  • Handbags
  • Jewellery
  • Furniture
  • Home decorations
  • Kitchen items
  • Bad sheets
  • Books
  • CD-DVDs

Echt.Gut. Das Kaufhaus ——————————————

Nothing is missing in Echt.Gut.: homemade creations, home furniture, clothes, books, toys etc. Anyway, this shop is not only about commerce but also about social impact. The retailers are involved into social improvement projects on many layers. They provide packages for homeless and offer jobs to people facing challenging life situations. The store accepts donations of your old objects.


#Kiweb

This section help you to find used second hand general items online. On these websites you can find literally everything that is on sale in the Kiel area and in general Germany.


Sustainability

Hopefully, the listed shops can give hints on, how much creativity and redesign can be useful to donate and (re)interpret new life. The perfect sales are often not in the mainstream shopping centres. But they may come from afar, from Scandinavia, or from your neighbours. The second hand shops are coffers containing all these solutions combined together. Originality, sustainability, art, design, quality, vintage, cheapness etc.

They can be found right out of your door in Kiel! Forget your unsustainable nightmares! They will both help, you, economically and the nature, environmentally.

Upgrading, re-functioning, re-designing need to be more and more into our everyday life. That is what these shops can teach us. They can teach us to look at global fashion industries under a different, perhaps, more negative perspective. Maybe because 10% of the global carbon emissions are caused by this sector. Maybe because to produce 1kg of natural textile, 350 to 1500g of chemicals need to be employed. Also because, to produce 1kg of synthetic textile, 110 to 820g of chemicals are needed and 700 liters of water are consumed to produce 1kg of textile.

Once digging into the topic, impressive data keep to come out of the fashion industry: at least 20.000 liters of water are necessary to harvest and produce 1kg of cotton (equivalent to one T-shirt and a pair of jeans).

Instead, when buying second-hand, you automatically preserve the environment from consumption of new resources. Also, you don’t support questionable fashion companies. Of course, this applies not only to clothes, but also to other everyday objects such as furniture, electrical appliances, books…

If you still want to shop in global brands shopping malls there are still some hints you can be aware of to make more responsible choices:

  • Pay attention to quality and durability of items
  • Study brands (where the product comes from, how it was produced, if it is recyclable)
  • Avoid new purchases
  • Learn the “Do It Yourself” art
  • Repair before throwing away
  • Share

Sustainability involve, not only the environment, but also society. When you buy second hand, you can also enhance society’s conditions. Obolus, Echt Gut and the RotKreuz markt in Kiel also support society in many different ways. They devolve money to social improvement programs or give job positions prioritising people who are currently facing difficult life and social conditions. These kind of solidarity actions recall the famous french Emmaüs Movement. For many, Emmaüs stands both for home and workplace. People who are facing life struggles are welcomed, given a house and a job. It is based on the concept of reusing and refitting objects. In 1954, Father Pierre, in a context of severe housing shortage, launched a famous appeal of solidarity on Radio Luxembourg, starting the movement.

Ki Map

On the Ki-Map many other second hand stores are present. Have fun discovering all of them. Just click on the play button and activate the section number 3, called: “Second Hand shops”.

If you cannot find your favourite store on the map, please, let us know in the comment, down here, and we will add it as soon as possible.