Closure of Charity Shops

In recent months there have been scores of media reports highlighting the closure of charity shops. Some have been chain shops belonging to large charities such as the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK; but others have been single outlets run by small local charities.

The reasons cited in the media for these closures include:

• Rising costs – wages and energy bills
• The increasing popularity of online fashion resale outlets such as Vinted, Depop and eBay, especially amongst younger people.

Whilst I accept that these changes cause problems for charity shops, I believe that are other reasons why shoppers are going elsewhere:

• I was in a local charity shop near my home recently. It was chaos! I couldn’t begin to find what I wanted, and there seemed to be no logic in the way goods were displayed, arranged or priced. Two other charity shops were better – but still not up to the standard of an average high-street retail premises.
• Clothing is frequently not organised either by type or size. No one wants to search through unmarked shirts of varying sizes, or find bras mixed up with boxers.
• Presentation is often not attractive. People need encouragement to purchase in shops. One way of achieving this is highlighting the fact that prospective purchasers can examine goods on sale which they are unable to do in such detail at online stores.

There are other ways of reducing costs – one of which is to locate away from the high streets altogether. Two successful examples of this are stately homes and garden centres. Both offer shop sales, usually provide cafeteria and often have other facilities which generate funds. Many are staffed mainly, or exclusively, by volunteers – and provide free, on-site parking.

The Darwinian principle “adapt or die” is as relevant to charity shops today as it was in the 19th Century…