Member Spotlight
Circa Systems
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Circa Systems develops circular point of sale platforms and two-way logistics systems to usher in a revolutionized retail experience for those seeking an alternative to the current take, make and trash model – a company promising to meet our product needs in a way that is better for people, planet and profit. Circa’s first platform, Unless Kids, is a fun, sustainable and convenient membership-based toy buying platform for you to get the toys your kids want and get rid of the toys they don’t, all in one easy solution.
Why did you become a member?
We joined CP because we want to positively contribute to the circular economy with a group of aligned individuals and businesses. We definitely are excited to be in the CP network and on its platform to get more awareness of our business. However, we’re also dedicated to be yet another example that CP can point to as a thriving and impactful business in Philly’s CE space.
What does a circular economy mean to your organization?
The circular economy is a symbiotic relationship between producer and user/consumer. To make Unless Kids work, we need to work together to create that circular chain. That means that Unless Kids and Circa need to create value in all aspects of the chain from providing high quality toys at great prices while also taking the toys back. This attention to customer service and value that solves pain points is what allows us to create a system that is reliable and high quality. Too often, the pain points of the consumer are overshadowed by the pain points of the world’s waste crisis. But at Circa and Unless Kids, we feel that a viable circular economy is one where the systems we set up become the norm and not the exception.
How is your organization practicing circularity?
The innovation of the Unless Kids platform is the introduction of the “toy chest” for parents. Rather than a shopping cart, the toy chest allows parents to purchase what toys their kids want, when they want them. But included in the toy chest with all the new purchases is a digital representation of all the toys that have already been purchased. Parents then have the option to “swap” those toys that their kids are no longer playing with. When Unless Kids shows up to the house with a physical toy chest of new toys, we take the old ones back to our workshop, refurbish them and get them back into our inventory. This premise allows us to run a viable toy store with a quarter of the inventory as other toy stores. Not only does this reduce waste and packaging, but also solves the pain point of parents who have way too many toys accumulating in their homes with few convenient options to get rid of them.
How can others advance the circular economy?
Other businesses need to take a hard look at the immediate pain point they are solving in addition to the longer term sustainability and environmental change. We can’t expect the consumer to depart too drastically from the modern economy to use our products. We call this “playing our game” at Circa and Unless Kids and the more people we can get to play the game, the stronger the circular economy becomes in Philly. So we are excited to be one more player in this infinite game we’re all playing to transform our economy into a circular one.