Many millennials would rather rent furniture than buy it

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Add the furniture industry to the long list of businesses that are shifting strategies to appeal to millennials.  Many would rather rent furniture than buy it.

Companies like Feather are capitalizing on the trend by offering furniture rental.

"People care much less about homes and care and getting that white picket fence and instead care about achieving freedom and flexibility in their life," founder and CEO of Feather Jay Reno.

Several big furniture companies recognize the opportunity to change how urban consumers furnish their homes and apartments.  Even IKEA says it is planning furniture rental options.

Feather says it has thousands of customers and even has a membership plan offering more than 150 products.

Dan Geiger is a senior reporter at Crains.  He notes that renting furniture is not a new idea.

"Office tenants have leased furniture for decades," Geiger says.

But he says the arrival of companies like Feather are geared toward millennials with more expensive tastes and more inexpensive budgets.

"Like, I can't afford a suite from Gucci or Armani but I can rent one for a monthly fee from Rent the Runway," Geiger says.

He also notes that millennials are also concerned about the environmental impact of the 9.7 million pounds of furniture wast humans produce every year.