As companies across the metro have shifted to hybrid and remote work, one northeast Minneapolis warehouse has turned into an abandoned office furniture graveyard that’s aiming to give those desks and chairs a new life.

For more than 35 years, the mission at Furnish Office and Home has been the same: “Anything we can keep out of the landfill is a good thing,” Alex Lundeen, the store’s manager, said.

The warehouse, located at 850 NE 15th Ave., is made up of mostly donated items.

“We do have some lockers. Those are from Target,” Lundeen pointed out.

All of the items inside are up for sale for a fraction of their retail price.

“These chairs, originally when they came out, were about $200 to $300 apiece. We sell them for $50,” Lundeen said.

The hottest section of the store? You can find it toward the back corner where every chair is just $10.

“So, some of these look like a Rottweiler got them, but everybody needs a chair,” he said.

It was DJ Tenney’s first time in the store Thursday morning. He walked in looking to upgrade his wooden chair in his home office and ended up walking out with a new desk, too.

“(The chair is) definitely a lot swankier. Some lumbar support and padding for my butt,” Tenney laughed. “I mean, I’m saving probably a good couple hundred dollars.”

Beyond shoppers looking to upgrade their home offices, Lundeen says a majority of Furnish’s customers are immigrants and small-business owners.

“A lot of new businesses are starting for taxes, adult day care, chiropractors. So, a lot of the guest seating is what they’re looking for,” Lundeen explained.

And while the furniture is getting saved from a trip to the landfill, Furnish also helps people like Aaron Mason with a second chance at life, post-incarceration.

“I think they were a big help to my success. They didn’t only help me with a job, they helped me get my credit together,” said Mason, who’s worked at Furnish for the last seven years.

All of the money earned at Furnish goes toward a reentry program for those just out of prison. The program is spearheaded by the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Emerge.

“We aren’t just coworkers, we’re like a family,” Mason said.

It’s a family both Lundeen and Mason say makes it a priority to meet both workers and customers wherever they’re at in life.