Charity Super.Mkt has raised over £1m since its creation, and the multi-charity retail store has now expanded into the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent.
The first pop-up store opened in Bent Cross Shopping Centre, London, in January and has since set up in Bristol, Glasgow and Reading.
Today, Charity Super.Mkt launched in Kent in response to “the growing popularity of pre-loved shopping” and to “create a unique retail experience for guests looking for quality, affordable products”.
The Charity Retail Association said that the concept “has proved hugely popular with shoppers”, with 101,659 items sold in its first six months, generating more than £1m for 10 charities including Age UK, TRAID, and Shelter.
The brand was created by co-founder of footwear brand Red or Dead Wayne Hemingway and TRAID chief executive Maria Chenoweth.
Hemingway said: “It’s a mere seven months since we started on this journey to attempt to demonstrate that charity secondhand fashion could and should be part of a modern retail mix in the busiest of shopping centres. Charity Super.Mkt is proving that and more.
“Not only is the concept exciting customers, allowing them to do their bit for society, the environment and their own pockets, it’s creating uplifts in footfall and most importantly providing much-needed income for charities.”
Chenoweth added: “My career and ambition has always been to promote second-hand fashion as the most 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. We’re really excited to be taking for the first time Charity Super.Mkt and charity retail into Bluewater the UK’s second largest shopping centre.”
The 10 participating charities are:
- Age UK
- Cancer Research UK
- Deaf Blind UK
- Demelza
- Ellenor
- Havens Hospices
- Marie Curie
- Pilgrims Hospices
- Shelter
- TRAID
Related articles
