The first multi-charity retail store in the UK is set to open a second pop-up shop in Reading after its London store raised over £370,000.
Charity Super.Mkt’s first outlet at Brent Cross in London opened in January and sold more than 40,000 items for 10 charities.
It raised £374,454 for UK charities in 41 days of trading, from more than 26,000 customers. Its projected turnover was accomplished in just four days of its launch.
Its second store is set to open in the Oracle in Reading tomorrow, with a launch event being held this evening.
While 10 charities were involved in the London pop-up shop, this has increased to 13 for the Reading store. Cats Protection, Shelter, DEBRA, TRAID, Age UK, Havens Hospice and Blue Cross are among the participating charities.
First store ‘surpassed all expectations’
The concept was created by chief executive of the sustainable fashion charity TRAID, Maria Chenoweth and co-founder of footwear brand Red or Dead, Wayne Hemingway.
Chenoweth said: “My career and ambition has always been to promote second-hand fashion as the most fun and impactful way to dress ourselves. The creation of Charity Super. Mkt has brought charity retailers into mainstream retail, gaining locations that would have otherwise been inaccessible.
“Charity Super.Mkt gives charities the opportunity to raise more funds, and that means more nursing time in hospices, more support for animals, more research into cancer and in TRAID’s case, more support for the people who make our clothes. The success of our first pop-up at Brent Cross has shown overwhelming support for the concept and for charity retail, and we’re excited to take Charity Super.Mkt outside of London to its new home at the Oracle in Reading.”
Hemingway said: “Charity Super.Mkt surpassed all expectations at Brent Cross and now we are going to prove that the concept works nationwide. Next stop is the Oracle, Reading, where we have gathered a revolving cohort of national, local and regional charities who have all been squirrelling away great second-hand pieces.”
A spokesperson for the initiative explained that its till system in the store means each charity gets the money for their stock. For example, a customer could buy a top from Age UK and a skirt from Thames Hospice and pay in one transaction, but the individual charity will get the money they are owed.
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