Subject: Mary, Queen of Charity Shops

Some interesting responses to the programme across the web:

• Fundraising Detective discusses the show
• Hospice shop in Bristol make plea for donations
• Save the Children's online statement
• feedback in response to Grazia magazine article.

I think it's amazing that this topic is being given such prominent air-time. Well done BBC!

I do worry that the wonderful army of charity shop volunteers are predominently retired ladies, same as the customers and both are not going to be very open to turning their shops into high street boutiques. Part of their charm is that charity shops are musty places which feel different from chain shops.

But if charities can make more money and only survive on the high street by bringing their shops into the 21st century then surely it is the responsibility of all who staff them to do all they can to get good donations and attract shoppers who will spend. At the end of the day, the shops are there to raise as much money as possible for the charity. Hmm, difficult.

Was in a Mind shop in London today and overheard someone say as they handed over a bag full of stuff that they had been inspired by the Mary Portas show!

Are other shops seeing an increase in donations since the show started?

I haven't seen the program in question - not a big TV watcher I'm afraid - but I did notice the local Mind displaying a notice announcing their (Mind's) appearance on the show quite prominently in the shop window. If - like Melbelle  describes - it has the effect of inspiring people to donate more items  or even just make people more aware of their local charity shop(s) existence then I suppose that can only be a good thing.

Personally, I much prefer the more traditional charity shop where you have to sift through racks of unordered (often undesirable too, admittedly) clothing/books/records to find that one gem you wouldn't have a hope of finding anywhere else, so am interested to know whether her makeover(s?) involved transforming this kind of place into these increasingly sterile, homogenised versions that we're beginning to see more and more of on our high streets. It would be a shame if so, but I suppose I'm probably in a minority in thinking the older, more chaotic variety provided a better experience.

I'm aware that's a purely selfish view -since charity shops obviously exist to raise money for charities ultimately - but I'd be quite interested to know if anyone does share my position on this...

I have been watching the TV programme, and as an avid user of charity shops have been felt incredibly split as to the message Mary brings.

On the one hand, Mary obviously has a lot of skills and knowledge from the High Street and some of what she says makes a whole lot of sense.  For a start, the point of a charity shop is to make money  for the charity, not to keep people employed, volunteers entertained or cheap clothing on every High Street. 

I think this latter point is important - the people involved in charity shops need to appreciate that most people do not buy cheap clothing at a charity shop when the same thing can be obtained for a cheaper price, new, at Primarks/Peacocks/Tesco/etc.  Supplying extremely cheap clothing to those who cannot afford anything else is a worthy social goal, but one which charity shops have proven themselves unfit to perform.

And again, I think Mary is right - investment is not wrong in itself, as long as there is a corresponding increase in the amount the shop takes for the charity.  Afterall, nobody complains about charities employing staff, fundraisers, etc when it is shown that these have an effect on the financial takings.

Where Mary is not right, in my opinion, is her insistence that charity shops should be run as a commercial shop.  For a start they are mostly run by vulnerable and old volunteers.  Berating them is quickly going to lead to alienation.  Second, if they all become boutiques, there is no evidence of a market.  As those interviewed in the show said, those wearing the expensive brands do not shop in charity shops.

Ultimately I think the benefits she has brought to the discussion is that charity shops could be a whole lot better.  And for a start, sensible pricing would make a big difference.  Nobody sensible is going to pay £3 for a pair of used denim jeans which only cost £5 new.  Equally it is nonsense to see branded products priced by type rather than by desirability. 

My gut feeling is that the whole sector is in decline and that charities will quickly come to realise that the returns from keeping a large number of substandard retail shops open are far lower than the benefits gained.

Interesting points, thanks joe. Your conclusion suggests that you think that the future for high street charity shops is limited. What do other people think? 

Of course having a high street shop isn't only about getting donations and selling goods but having a presence on the high street. This constant advertising raises awareness about the charity and their services - surely invaluable brand awareness for the organisation?  

Not sure most shops are a particularly positive 'presence' for most charities.

Running charity shops as a commercial organisation has been true of most national high street chains for many years already - although not so much (it seems) Save the Children, which is why they were chosen for the programme against many charities that applied - and why one of their 'failing' stores was picked.

Paid managers are already standard, with many of the higher earning shops having paid assistant managers etc as the increased revenue tends to more than pay their salary.  Shop refits are also nothing new - well certainly not in the past 15 years or so, anyway!

Also, doing collections to 'meet the donor halfway' in workplaces, gyms, supermarkets etc has been done by charities for many years - even *I* remember organising them about 12 years ago - and they still go on to this day...as does working with local fashion colleges and young designers.

All in all, raising awareness of the sector was great.  passing off all these 'innovations' as the brainchild of Mary Portas was not so great.  and telling people to only bring in stuff they thought could seel for over a fiver, cutting off a huge source of income from not only the 'life-blood' sales, but also the money from rag income was (in my opinion) wrong.

So, the series has ended - did it leave a good impression of the sector or more questions than it answered?

The final conclusion seemed to be that the changes Mary instigated (shop refit, seeking out donations, employing a shop manager) worked. The number of people into the shop and spending increased and income raised from an average of £900 a week to £2000 - all great news. But as SP above says, nothing necessarily new in shop management. Also, no mention of Gift Aid-ing donations, the money that shops raise from selling donations as rags.

So, was it good TV? Have donations increased? What do you think about the future of charity shops?

Some other views of the show:

• Trading Talk
• The Guardian review
• Blog entry about the shop by a shop manager

Southport's Save the Children shop share their views about the show in their local press - Shop Queen fails to reign in our resort

This woman has completely ruined the charity shop experience with her so called innovations. Charity shops by their very nature have provided discount items at affordable prices for the poorer of society. Now they are being turned into antiseptic copies of high street outlets, with ridiculously high prices. Many of my friends and I have simply stopped visiting them, and we are far from being fuddie duddies. And replacing older staff with younger is reprehensible. She's no spring chicken herself. Charity organisations may well have cause to regret their obsession with what this woman says, and start thinking for themselves, when their profits start going down as a result.
Thormod

couldn't agree more Thormod

trying to change charity shops into high street clones, just looking at the charity shops on the high street you can see the ones that have been to her lectures,

upsetting loyal volunteers and staff, and claiming ideas that many shops already do as her own new ideas

forgetting that the people who actually shop in charity shops do so because they are either

skint

like individual or vintage clothes

prefer to recycle than ruin the planets resources

tight

these are not the same customers that shop in high stree clone shops like Next, and River Island

I was seriously impressed by the TV series. I consider myself a Want To Be customer of charity/second hand stores. I believe in recycling and up-cycling (reusing 2nd hand clothing for a new purpose) fashion rather than consuming new every time. I am creative and sew - I would love to go to my local charity shop and find great fabric I can reuse.

But I never find that at my local charity shops. I find 80/90s clothing in a somewhat worn state sold for 75% of what I would pay to get it brand new. I think items are priced on how current the "style" is or how popular the size tag is. But as a shopper that's not what I'm looking for at all: I want good fabric and lots of it in any style/any age.

I don't believe that charity shops are a good source of cheap clothing for the poor - at least that's not the case here in Australia. You can buy tshirts and pants from KMart for $6-$10.

By word of mouth I stumbled across a "market" that runs in my city a few times a year: where individuals (admittedly those who buy a heck of a lot of clothes) and small 2nd hand stores get together to sell their "designer" label clothes second hand. The prices are about 50%-75% of what you would pay for the item brand new. But you can always find unusual items that fit.

IE. the stock is great.

I think what Mary was trying to bring the experience to shopping at a charity shop closer to my experience at our "designer" 2nd hand clothing market. If the stock is good, customers will come back time and time again. And it's not about the price when the item is unique.

At last I can vent some annoyance at Mary Queen of Shops. I have to agree with Thormod and Smartshopper. I was horrified to see what she had done to the charity shops which I so used to love going to.  When I was a lone parent during the 1980s (children were small) I was able to survive because I bought all my clothes from these shops and at prices I could afford. Now, I know some 20 years later, I don't feel that is the case. I can buy relatively good cheap stuff from Primark, Peakcocks, Tescos, Asda etc in the sale and they don't smell!

We only have 3 charity shops in our little town, and as mentioned I think one of them has attended her training. It has become a boutique, less clothes to rummage through, high prices from brand names, everything is toooooo tidy and boring looking; there is nothing that feels like a bargain any more. I've stopped going. 

I found her presumptions of what she thought was sellable or not sellable was offensive. Deciding what people are likely to buy. I absolutely love the old things. How dare she!

I guess it's all gone now, never to come back, I hope one day someone starts to bring back the old traditional rummage shop with lots of different things to rummage through and price things so people feel they have bought a bargain. I know a lot of people who have said to me that charity shops are so expensive now.... and these people are either unemployed, lone parents or just not earning enough now to make ends meet.  The old second hand shops used to help those most in need, NOT FOR PROFIT... I don't think so.  It seems as though that is their only goal.

It is refreshing to read that I am not the only one who feels this.

Cassie D, I too would like to buy unique items, and look for fabric to recycle for crafts and clothing. But I know for sure that anything interesting or vintage/antique will have either gone straight in the 'ragbag' or saved and sold to dealers, nothing interesting goes out for sale in the shops.  At least where I live there are plenty of boot sales where you can still find interesting items, and still get a bargain.

Morticiadecat, I totally agree with you, I do realise the whole point of the shops is to make a profit for the charity, although how much of the money goes on management salaries, conferences and company cars is another matter.  But they are certainly losing customers by putting the prices up.  For example I have seen clothing items that are currently in Asda sold for a higher price second hand in some charity shops.  I assume this is because the shops have to adhere to a minimum price strategy dictated to them by the likes of Mary. They don't seem to take into account the original price of the item when it was new in the store.  I only buy high quality clothes from charity shops, as I know the Tesco/Asda/Primark are often cheaper to buy new.  I would actually spend more money in the shops if the prices were lower, I would pay a couple of quid for an item and not mind if it didn't fit I can always give it someone else or donate it back, I wouldn't risk £20 for something I was unsure of,  I just wouldn't buy it at all. 

Some of your comments are interesting to hear as I am an assistant manager of a CRUK shop in manchester. But, fundamentally, we are there to make money for the charity and having rails and rails of cheap low quality undesirable crap is not financially effective. I am as against selling over-priced primark/tesco clothes as you are, and so i do keep quality and style at the forefront of my mind whilst sorting items to go out onto the shop floor. I don't think it is unreasonable to charge £6-£9 for a like-new topshop or miss selfridge dress though as the price when bought new has to be considered and some topshop dresses can be as much as £60 and then some. I closely monitor the sales of our shop and what effects it etc but when a high percentage of the donations are primark clothes, we still have to sell them if they're in good condition and we still have sales targets to meet. Primark and those type of stores have been the death of charity shops really because I would say about 60-70% of clothing donations are from primark/tesco if not more. Unfortunately we have pricing guides to follow but if we were to sell these clothes at 50p or similar, we wouldn't meet our sales targets. I am currently in the process of turning a section of our shop into a boutique where buyers can come and search through high quality (often new with the tags still on) high street clothing such as topshop, french connection and diesel etc, no primark, no tescos. I am confident it will be successful as there is no other equivalent in the area without going miles into manchester city centre. But contrary to what some people have said, charity shops ARE like any other business or high street chain; they are in the business of making money, it just so happens the profit goes to a good cause not someones back pocket but the same management and marketing techniques and strategies need to be put in place as to maximise the potential money made. Its the same in every business in the world.