A multi-charity shop department store has returned to London’s Brent Cross to celebrate its one year anniversary with two new concept stores.
The Charity Super.Mkt brings together five charities, including Shelter, Traid, Shaw Trust and Havens Hospices, to exhibit for a limited time at the Brent Cross shopping centre.
The new ‘Charity Super.Mkt Presents The Edit’ concept store features a collection of curated second-hand clothing from fashion houses including Burberry and Vivienne Westwood and accessories selected by local and national British charities.
In another market-first, the multi-charity shop will also launch a separate event-based store, with a rotating weekly theme and DJs.
The group said “customers will need to be strategic in their purchasing”, as the first theme is ‘Countdown’, a unique concept whereby all items will be priced at £5 on Thursday, dropping by £1 each day until all items are only £2 on Sunday, with new themes revealed week-by-week
Founded by industry heavyweights Maria Chenoweth (CEO of Traid) and Wayne Hemingway (Cofounder of HemingwayDesign and Red or Dead), the “department store for second-hand style” first launched in a former Topshop at Brent Cross last year.
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During its original run at the shopping centre, over 40,000 second-hand items were sold in just 41 days of trading, with 26,000 customers flocking to snap up pre-loved items from household names including Zara, Ralph Lauren and Vesarce.
At Brent Cross, the group noted that footfall rose 7% on opening weekend vs previous weekend, projected turnover for the whole month was achieved in only 4 days and that 11.4 tonnes of clothing and shoes saved from landfill, saving 102 tonnes of Co2 and 18,000 cubic metres of water.
It added that it saw 755 transactions on its busiest trading day, equating to over £20,000 raised for charity.
Wayne Hemingway said: “When we opened our first Charity Super.Mkt in Brent Cross in early 2023 we had a hunch that the public were ready for a multi charity store that had great secondhand fashion, in a vibrant environment, all set to a fab soundtrack.”
“We were right, and we soon realised we had created one of the UK’s hottest retail brands.
“The team are full of ideas and we are excited to be testing new concepts Charity Super.Mkt The Edit and Charity Super.Mkt Presents at Brent Cross.”
Traid CEO Maria Chenoweth added: “Charity Super.Mkt is on a mission to make charity retail mainstream and increase its appeal, the knock on effect of shopping all things charity is clearly amazing, in our first year of trading we worked with over 50 charities and raised just under £2m, the social and environmental impact of this work is far reaching for all of us as a society.”
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