I am always struck by the presence of charity shops in the United Kingdom when I come over from Paris, where I live. While we have our second-hand stores – or vintage stores, as they are now called – they are commonly private enterprises, not associated with any charity. On this Secondhand Wardrobe Day, I decided to delve into the history of these charity shops’ presence on Scottish high streets.
The original charity shops, a philanthropic tradition
The history of charity shops in Scotland follows the country’s long tradition of charitable philanthropy. In the past, people donated unwanted clothing and household items to church bazaars, jumble sales and local community groups, either for donation to those in need or for sale to raise money. In the 19th century, these informal actions inspired organisations such as the Salvation Army to run charitable shops for the poor.
Charity shops during the Second World War
Temporary shops were established by the British Red Cross during the Second World War. Wartime charity retail records from the Bristol University Press publications list examples of a Red Cross shop in Angus raising money for PoW parcels as well as of extensive fundraising in Edinburgh. Items sold at the time were not very different from those sold in charity shops today: clothes, of course, but also jewellery, books and bric-a-brac.
The Oxfam model
In 1943, Oxfam volunteers raised more than £3000 for famine relief in occupied Greece in only 11 days through a temporary shop in Oxford. Bolstered by this success, the charity opened its first permanent shop in 1947. The objective was to finance its operations through a retail business, instead of relying on occasional fundraising actions.
The Oxfam model spread quickly throughout Britain, including in Scotland. Run by volunteers, by the 1970s many charities opened their shops for fundraising purposes. Donated stock, cheap rentals and volunteer support made this model economically appealing for charities. And with a public keen to save money and find affordable goods, charity shops became a permanent fixture of British life.
The origins of the Charity Retail Association
As charity shops became more numerous, they also started becoming more professional. The Charity Shops Group was formed in 1992 and was the origin of the Charity Retail Association.
Increasingly associated with a circular economy and sustainability, charity shops in Scotland have become more than sellers of second-hand clothes. Many different retail models have been created, each offering a wide range of items from clothes and accessories to books, art and homeware.
The PItlochry Station Book Shop converted a railway station into a second-hand book store and has raised more than £500,000 for the charities it supports. The Blue Door in Kirkwall, Orkney is famous for a large variety of second-hand merchandise and offers its premises rent-free to a different local charity every week. The Shelter Botanics community shop located in Glasgow is a fashionable, high-end secondhand store with striking artistic murals. In Edinburgh, amongst others, the Breakfast Bothy offers a curated vintage fashion experience, while the Birthlink Thrift Shops are classic retro-rummage spots. Walking into the Highland Hospice shop on Falcon Square in Inverness feels like one has mistakenly entered a designer store.
More than a charity shop
Eilidh runs the Highland Hospice charity shop in Wick town centre. She points out that charity shops provide an important community space for smaller towns in Scotland. Volunteers and customers know each other personally and the charity where she works raises funds for a well-known local cause. “We are helping keep the town centre alive,” she says.
She sees a lot of younger people shop for second-hand clothes now, and they also donate more clothes to the shop. For many of them, beyond the affordable prices of second-hand clothes, it is also important that the store offers a sustainable shopping experience. For Eilidh herself, keeping clothes out of landfills is an additional source of motivation.
Tourists who come to visit the Highlands also come in for a browse, looking for souvenirs or tartan garments to remind them of Scotland.
After talking to Eilidh, I spent some time looking through the shop. Clothes and objects obviously from Highland homes were displayed alongside others that had travelled from afar. I thought about my mother, who wouldn’t buy anything second-hand, to my children who now choose to buy only used clothes. Charity shops have played an important role in changing attitudes towards poverty, consumption and waste. They hold within their walls the living memory of people and the transmission of these possessions to other hands, other homes, and other families is, in many ways, a wonderful illustration of the connection between humanity.
