In Pakistan’s capital, used furniture market offers relief to inflation-wary customers, promotes sustainability

ISLAMABAD: Gul Hameed Abbasi, 48, directs one of his employees to arrange an exquisite sofa set in a small open lot as he displays the newly procured inventory, which includes pre-loved furniture, for customers at a market nestled in the heart of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. Abbasi’s shop is among more than two dozen retail outlets at the 40-year-old Abbas Market in the city’s posh F-6 neighborhood that is known for selling used, imported furniture in the city.
It has become a culturally accepted norm to buy pre-loved furniture in Islamabad, which often serves as a stopover for politicians, diplomats and private sector executives in their career journeys.
The city has developed a few markets over the decades where the shop owners display delicate movables and fixtures, which they routinely source from various embassies, foreigners and native residents, for customers who come looking for designer and custom-made stuff at fairly low prices.
“[We] buy this furniture from different embassies as well as from homes. The foreigners who come [to stay] here often sell these items when they leave. Some of it we also refurbish, including sofas and beds,” Abbasi, who has been selling furniture at Abbas Market since 1990, told Arab News this week.
“There are auctions [for furniture] and they [embassies] advertise them in newspapers.”
The 48-year-old shopkeeper said the furniture in the market was much cheaper than the items with the same quality sold at high-end furniture shops.
“[It’s] imported and of good quality. People come to this market from all over the country,” he said.
“It’s not just Islamabad residents who buy here. [People] also come from Karachi, Quetta, Sindh, Balochistan, [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] and elsewhere.”
Pakistan, a country of more than 240 million, has been hit hard by inflation, where the purchasing power of people has decreased amid an economic slowdown.
But Abbasi said his business was not impacted by inflation and people from all social classes continued to buy items from him.
“No, there has been no impact,” he said. “Alhamdulillah, business is good in this market.”
Huriya Manzar, a customer in her 40s, came to explore the market after her cousin recommended it to her and found the items on sale to be “very good.”
“I am just here exploring. We went to high-end furniture shops before this and they were really good, but very expensive,” she said.
“The furniture over here is very good, it doesn’t look used at all and the prices are very reasonable. So, it’s a good option if you are looking to buy something that’s high quality and good prices.”
Talha Mansoor, a 25-year-old university student of Governance and Public Policy, runs a shop at the market with his elder brother. He said the imported furniture at the market had superior quality and most of the customers visited the place for the same reason.
“Actually, local things do not have the same quality as imported ones,” he told Arab News. “Customers opt for imported [ones] more because the market used to be famous for the fact that imported furniture is found here at cheaper rates.”
Mumtaz Mughal, a development sector employee, was also pleased with the quality of goods at the market.
“I found out this market online, came to know about it while looking for furniture shops. The furniture is very good and the quality is very good,” she said.
“This is a very good opportunity... this is the best they can purchase.”
Manzar pointed out the norm of buying and selling used furniture was also good for environmental sustainability.
“There is no point in spending more money making new things, using materials. I feel like it should not only be for furniture, we should also consider this for clothes, because there is so much waste in clothes in Pakistan,” she said.
“It should not be a taboo because it [not reusing things] is just wasting earth’s resources.”