Executive Summary

Retuna Recycling Centre in Sweden, Eskilstuna, is the world’s first recycling mall and a leader in sustainable retail. Since it opened in 2015, it has gained international media attention and inspired similar projects across Europe. Still, Retuna faces challenges with local recognition, community involvement, and a clear brand identity. This gap between global attention and local support puts its long-term cultural and economic sustainability at risk.

Our assessment, which included on-site visits, digital analysis, interviews with store owners, and a conversation with Retuna’s director, Simon Glimtoft, shows that the centre has a fragmented identity, inconsistent messaging, an outdated digital presence, and a clear need to develop storytelling that aligns with local culture. The unique mix of public and private ownership also leads to a need for stronger coordination in communication, as each shop focuses on its own promotion rather than building a shared brand story.

Nourish Production suggests a new branding and communication plan to help Retuna become a cultural landmark in Eskilstuna and a leader in sustainable retail. This plan involves defining the centre’s niche and audience, highlighting its environmental mission, improving its digital presence, updating its website, and building a strong identity based on local culture and values. By closing these gaps, Retuna can attract more visitors, earn community trust, and set the stage for wider recognition.

Background

Retuna Centrum is the world’s first recycling centre. When it opened, it offered a groundbreaking solution that has contributed to sustainability and environmental causes by encouraging people to recycle their products and buy recycled goods. Retuna Centre has the potential to shift consumer habits away from fast fashion and new products toward more environmentally friendly and organic options. Since its launch in 2015, this project has garnered global attention from major news outlets due to its significant impact on efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and combat climate change. However, despite this international recognition, the centre still struggles to gain local recognition.

ReTuna is a unique example of public innovation. It is municipally owned but operates through private businesses. The laws that give it ethical strength also make it harder for the center to present a unified message. Each shop shares its own story, even though they are all part of the same ecosystem.

Methodology

This assessment utilises information gathered through observations, analysis, and interviews.

• We observed the number of people visiting the centre on business days.

• We also reviewed the content on the Retuna website.

• We interviewed some business owners who have stores at the Retuna Centre.

• We also spoke with Simon Glimtoft, the director of Retuna Centre.

Current Recognition Status: Mid-Range Local Recognition

Retuna shows a need for stronger local recognition, driven by a fragmented identity, inconsistent messaging, and an outdated digital presence. This is urgent because footfall is stagnating and the centre risks losing relevance despite global attention.

Retuna Centre, led by Simon Glimtoft, faces many challenges in expanding its recognition. Over the past ten years, the centre has welcomed more than two million visitors, averaging 360,000 per year. Still, these numbers may not fully reflect the innovative idea behind the centre, which has inspired similar projects in other places in Europe.

Key Challenges

Due to financial and organisational hardships, the Retuna Recycling Centre faces the risk of slow growth, even locally, despite the clear value it brings not only locally but also regionally and globally. Therefore, according to our assessment, despite Retuna having gained a global awareness for their noble cause of saving the environment, awareness isn’t recognition. And without recognition, a shopping centre like Retuna may be at risk of being forgotten, unless marketing steps are taken to revive the brand locally before moving on to the next step of brand recognition. According to our assessment, Retuna Recycling Centre is having challenges of growing locally, according to these factors:

Identity & Culture Misalignment

• An opportunity to further root the identity in Eskilstuna’s cultural values

• Disconnected store themes

• A need to deepen emotional connection and meaning within the shopping journey

Digital & Communication Issues

• No target audience

• Weak messaging

• Lack of storytelling

• Inconsistent posting calendar

• No templates

• Outdated website

Strategic Barriers

• Public sector limitation (each store markets itself)

• Fragmented voice

• Slow municipal marketing

• No viral or modern content approach

Insights From Research

A research paper found that people connect most with brands that reflect their cultural values, offer quality and fairness, and evoke a sense of familiarity, like being at home. That’s the science behind why we feel we belong. It’s also the foundation of local recognition. When your brand reflects local values, traditions, and pride, it becomes more than a business. It starts a conversation, just like Cafe Saturnus did.

In 1989, on a cold winter day, people gathered there to share warmth, art, and ideas. The smell of roasted beans blended with laughter and curiosity. It wasn’t just a café. It became a cultural landmark. Café Saturnus didn’t just serve coffee. It gave people a sense of identity. It showed that when a brand understands its environment, its people, tone, and symbols, it doesn’t just gain customers. It earns the trust of the community.

Your uniqueness Deserves to Be Seen. Let’s Make Sure it Is.

This assessment exists to change that.

Nourish Production’s Strategic Proposal (Approach)

• Define a clear niche & target audience

• Revamp digital branding & storytelling

Define a clear niche & target audience

Currently, the centre has an overarching theme of sustainability, focusing on recycling products such as clothing, electronics, toys, and furniture. Therefore, there’s a disorienting theme that doesn’t work harmoniously to define the identity of the recycling shopping centre. Retuna Centre has not identified its target audience. It has no specific criteria on which to focus while developing the centre’s marketing messages. Additionally, there are no identified goals that Retuna’s ideal customer can find there. This leads to disoriented planning, which can produce mixed messages and thus confuse the audience on both social media and official channels.

An ideal customer is the one who seeks beyond any functional goals when it comes to a product. They are hooked because of the added value and the experience they get from a brand, which they don’t find elsewhere. The brand is a thing that an ideal customer is looking for, a sweet spot for his life’s motivations and higher goals. That is why consistent brands manage to keep loyalty because, in that sense, they give their loyal customer a sense of familiarity, a sense of unity, and mostly the genuine experience of enjoying the pain of spending money.

Revamp digital branding & storytelling

Retuna’s visual and video content does not reflect the current digital Zeitgeist. In today’s environment, algorithms reward emotionally engaging and entertaining storytelling. To amplify the center’s environmental mission, Retuna must blend purpose-driven messages with relatable, visually dynamic, and trend-aware content that appeals to broader digital audiences.

Making the Mission Loud & Clear

Causes are noble, but they may end up like the sun obscured by clouds. Therefore, Retuna’s noble mission of reducing its carbon footprint through recycling should be promoted in every possible way. Right now, many clouds are obscuring the sun of Retuna’s mission.

Digital Issues

Lack of Viral Mindset

Retuna’s visual and video content does not reflect the current digital Zeitgeist. In today’s environment, algorithms reward emotionally engaging and entertaining storytelling. To amplify the center’s environmental mission, Retuna must blend purpose-driven messages with relatable, visually dynamic, and trend-aware content that appeals to broader digital audiences.

Inconsistent Posting Calendar

Retuna’s posting calendar is currently inconsistent, as algorithmic systems on platforms like Instagram reward steady activity. Consistent weekly posting not only sustains awareness of Retuna’s environmental mission but also drives momentum, visibility, and higher organic reach.

The Lack of Themes or Templates

Visual consistency is crucial for digital branding. Currently, Retuna lacks defined design themes or templates across posts. Establishing modular templates “colour or layout coded for different stores and events” would strengthen brand identity, improve recognition, and make the scrolling experience more cohesive and enjoyable for visitors.

Modernise the website (UX, architecture, transparency)

Retuna’s website suffers from outdated aesthetics, weak information architecture, and limited transparency regarding sustainability outcomes. These issues collectively reduce user satisfaction and diminish perceived credibility in the centre’s environmental mission. Modernising the website with improved navigation, design coherence, and visible sustainability metrics (e.g., carbon savings, recycled materials) would enhance trust and user engagement.

Expected Outcomes (Benefits)

• Increase local footfall.

• Strengthen community trust.

• Establish Retuna as a cultural and sustainable landmark.

• Improve digital visibility and engagement.

• Create a foundation for regional and national brand recognition.

Competition

Retail competitors

Retail stores, especially online stores, are considered the greatest threat to Retuna’s growth, due to the advantages of E-shopping, including discounts and a diverse selection of products.

Second-hand chains

Second-hand chains are everywhere around Eskilstuna and the city centre. Due to the distance of the Retuna shopping centre, visitors may prefer to purchase second-hand items instead of travelling to Retuna, whether by car or bus.

Digital marketplaces

In today’s world, marketplaces cover everything a customer would ever want to buy. Therefore, it may be challenging to focus solely on convincing people to visit Retuna physically, rather than also selling products online, due to the numerous logistical challenges that Retuna is currently facing

Municipal marketing limitations

The Retuna Centre faces several challenges due to limited funding. The marketing team lacks resources to promote the centre’s image as not only a local but a regional leader in reducing carbon emissions through circular consumption.

Nourish Production Brand Recognition Arc Assessment

Nour Fahed and Marius Wenneson developed the recognition arch model. This idea suggests that a brand’s journey is not a straight line. Instead, it follows an arch that begins at the street level and rises to the global stage. You can read more about the Recognition Arc Model.

At Nourish Production, we know that you want to be recognised as a brand that people trust. To achieve this, you need recognition, transitioning from local obscurity to widespread awareness, ideally culminating in a national or global reputation. The problem is that your brand isn’t getting noticed, despite offering good products or services, which can make you feel defeated.

We believe that good work deserves to be seen. Every brand that adds value to people’s lives deserves recognition. We understand that it is hard to build something great, but it feels like no one sees it, which is why we provide you with a Recognition Arc model based on proven branding and customer behavioural theories.

Method of Brand Recognition Development

At Nourish Production we use the Symbiotic Model of Influence to develop the brands we work with in order to take them to the next level of Recognition Arc. You can read more about the Symbiotic Model of Influence.

Conclusion

Retuna Recycling Centre is both a global symbol of sustainable innovation and a local asset with untapped potential. Although its mission is noble and its achievements are significant, recognition does not come automatically. To stay relevant and grow, Retuna needs to earn the trust, attention, and emotional connection of its community.

Our assessment reveals that Retuna’s challenges, including a fragmented identity, inconsistent messaging, a weak digital presence, and a lack of cultural alignment, are strategic gaps, not structural flaws. A unified branding approach can bring coherence to its story, clarify its mission, and strengthen its public image.

Nourish Production proposes a strategy to reinforce Retuna’s environmental purpose, raise its cultural profile, and use modern communication to reach both local and regional audiences. By strengthening its identity and aligning with Eskilstuna’s values, Retuna can grow from a unique sustainability project into a recognised cultural landmark and a key part of the community.

Retuna’s future depends on the story it tells. With the right branding, communication, and digital strategy, the centre can revive its local presence and build a future where sustainability, community, and recognition grow together.

Brand Recognition Assessment

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