Laval non-profit that gave furniture a second life forced to shut down

Mine Urbaine, a non-profit dedicated to refurbishing used furniture and diverting waste from landfills shut its doors after just one year of operating its store — and its co-founder says a lack of sustainable funding options helped seal its fate.

The Laval-based organization, which operated out of a 12,000-square-foot space just off Highway 440, officially closed Wednesday evening.

The organization combined a showroom, workshop, and training space to promote reuse and circular economy practices. While the space had become a hub for students, volunteers and environmentally conscious customers, its business model struggled to stay afloat.

“It’s really heartbreaking,” said co-founder Geneviève Dagneau. “We’ve been open for a year, but we worked on this project for four years. It’s not just a business closing, it’s a whole community that we created and poured everything into.”

The initiative received support early on from the City of Laval, the provincial government, and foundations like Desjardins’ Community Development Fund. But that funding was not enough to cover rent, staffing, and materials. With inconsistent sales and no budget for marketing, the team struggled to attract a steady flow of customers.

Since Mine Urbaine was forced to lay off its staff in March, volunteers stepped up to keep the project running.

Recent retiree Isabelle Lépine showed up to volunteer every Wednesday for months. She said she’s proud to have helped carry out the work in its final time but saddened by the closure.

“We had really talented people transforming these pieces of furniture and creating something new and beautiful,” she said. “Now, all this furniture will probably end up in landfills. It’s all just very sad.”

Simon Tremblay, Dagneau’s son and a regular volunteer, said the concept is worth fighting for.

“Every person who came through here left with a sense of pride,” he said. “It kind of filled the soul to know you were doing something good.”

In its short lifespan, the organization diverted around 600 tonnes of material from landfill — a goal Dagneu had set for themselves. For many of those involved, the loss of the space also meant losing a rare opportunity to participate in hands-on work focused on environmental action.

Industrial design student Nada Madhi has been completing an internship at Mine Urbaine, spending more than 100 hours at the workshop over the last month. She said it was her first time learning furniture restoration in such a practical, open-ended setting.

“I could just come in, grab a piece, and work out how to give it a new life, and that’s so important to do,” said Madhi. “It really changed how I think about design.”

She believes seeing a space like this disappear sends the wrong message to people who care about the environment.

“It’s such a shame because it’s a place that was super important in terms of upcycling and recycling things that could be saved from the trash,” added Madhi.

Dagneau echoed that concern, saying Mine Urbaine faced structural barriers when trying to access financial support — especially one focused on reuse, which she said doesn’t fit into many existing funding categories.

She said existing programs are built for either traditional businesses or small community non-profits, not hybrid models like theirs.

“There are great programs out there, but they’re not designed for what we’re doing,” said Dagneau. “We need governments to decide that the environment and projects like this matter. And once they make that decision, programs can be built to support more substantial initiatives like ours.”

The co-founder said most of the funding they were promised was tied up in multi-year agreements. Earlier this year, a potential buyer expressed interest in taking over, while leaving operations up to the current team, but backed out at the last minute on June 30. With rent unpaid and no funds left, there was no way to stay open.

Still, Dagneau said she’s proud of what the project accomplished.

“We saw the impact it had on people every day — they would come in and say how good it felt to be here, to be part of something that makes a difference. That means a lot.”

With the space now cleared out, Mine Urbaine’s board is left to decide whether to seek new opportunities to revive the initiative elsewhere.

While its storefront has closed, Dagneau said she hopes the mission it carried won’t be forgotten.

“This wasn’t just about furniture,” she said. “It’s about being creative, as a community, and believing in what we can accomplish.”