Charity Super.Mkt has ramped up its growth plans and announced a raft of new openings for 2025 as the demand for secondhand clothing ramps up.
The secondhand superstore has confirmed it plans to open permanent stores in cities across the UK including London, Edinburgh and Leeds.
In London, Charity Super.Mkt will bolster its presence with an opening in Canary Wharf, following its most recent pop-up in Spitalfields Market, which opened last week and will remain open until the end of January.
The expansion plans come as the secondhand retailer announced it has hit £3m in turnover since opening in January 2023.
Since its launch, Charity Super.Mkt has popped up in 12 UK cities as well as partnering with 55 charities including Shelter, Cancer Research, Oxfam and Havens Hospices.
According to the retailer, charity retail and resale fashion is expected to grow 11 times faster than the broader clothing sector by 2025, with 65% of people now wearing secondhand clothing.
Charity Super.Mkt co-founder and chief executive Maria Chenoweth said: “Wow, it has been nearly two years since Charity Super.Mkt first opened its doors, and it is clear that it is still a much-loved concept today as it was when we started, where the collaboration of charities all under one roof still remains a hit with consumers.
“Charity Super.Mkt has worked with over 55 local and national charities, bringing new audiences and demographics to charity retail, from London’s Bond Steet to Glasgow, Bristol to Brent Cross. Hitting the £3m income milestone is the icing on the cake but our work doesn’t stop there – our mission remains pushing charity retail into the spaces and places it would otherwise not access, raising funds for their vital work both here in the UK and globally.”
Co-founder Wayne Hemingway added: “When we first set out on this mission, we had no idea whether it would work. We cobbled together a name, a visual identity, repurposed a pile of shop fittings and assembled eight retail charities together for a four-week experiment in a former Topshop store in Brent Cross, which had been graffitied on with an anti-Philip Green [message] on its walls. Within those four weeks, we showed how charity fashion deserves to be part of a modern retail offer, alongside the heavily-funded fast fashion brands with their marketing clout and retail infrastructure.
“Now more than ever, fashion is evolving particularly amongst young people who are more conscious of making sustainable choices and seeking out good quality, pre-loved clothing, and turning it into re-loved fashion. We are thrilled to have reached our £3m charity milestone.
“It is a credit to the charities who have participated, the people who have shopped with us and to the landlords of our spaces that have been so generous. What’s more, we are now getting inquiries from overseas and from international brands that can see the value in supporting Charity Super.Mkt and the partner charities to deliver even more social and environmental value. What started as a four-week experiment may now be on its way to creating a new, purposeful, sustainably focused business model.”
Charity Super.Mkt also hailed the support of “kind and generous” landlords including Hammerson, Ingka, Landsec and British Land, which have offered “modern and vibrant rent-free retail spaces” to allow the concept to open its doors.
No comments yet