Innovative charity shop takes £37,000

The first of Mary Portas’ ‘Living and Giving’ charity shops, which opened in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge in November, has made an impressive £37,000 profit in the month leading up to Christmas.

Retail guru Mary Portas has stocked the shop with donated designer labels, including Stella McCartney, Jonathan Saunders, Christopher Kane and Ralph Lauren, as well as donations from celebrities including Peaches Geldoff, Carol Smillie and Jamie Oliver.

Shop manager Barbara Williams told The Journal: “The first day was really busy. We opened at 10am but people had been queuing for hours before that. It actually took an hour to get to the end of the queue and we had to operate a 'two out two in' policy.

"Radley and Tula gave us 70 bags and we also received some Martine Wester jewellery which went very quickly. The most expensive item was a Devi Kroell handbag which featured in Grazia magazine. It normally costs £1800 and we sold it for £400. In the first week, we took in £10,000.

“We have had lots of door donations and people seem to be coming in with a small bag of quality items, rather than a big bag. We try and encourage people to donate something and buy something at the same time, which in turn reduces their carbon footprint.”

Ms Williams is keen to encourage local talent and has pledged to make the shop a big part of the community by encouraging people with any type of craft to call-in and sell their wares from the premises.

She said: “We already sell paintings from local artists as well as pottery and jewellery, and would ask anyone with any sort of craft, even jam or chutney making or bedding plants, to get in touch. We normally work on a 50-50 basis but at least the money goes to a good cause.”

The Raeburn Place shop is the first of several similar ventures planned by the ‘Queen of Charity Shops'. Ms Portas plans to open five other shops throughout the country with the aim of persuading shoppers to buy second-hand designer clothes in preference to mass produced garments which she says has a negative impact on UK shopping.

All money raised goes to charity ‘Save the Children’.

Last year, Mary Portas was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters by Heriot-Watt University in recognition of her contribution to the advancement of marketing in the retail sector.