Pre-loved retail concept has so far raised £3.4m for charity
Unique multi-charity retail store Charity Super.Mkt has opened its first ever Welsh venue at St David’s Cardiff, offering a curated collection of sustainable, affordable second-hand fashion and bringing together multiple charities under one roof.
The ‘department store for second-hand style’, founded by Maria Chenoweth and Wayne Hemingway, launched at St David’s in February with a new partnership alongside the Royal Opera House, which invites guests to buy theatre costumes from past productions for the first time ever in a shopping centre.
The store stock pieces from Charity Super.Mkt’s new Made Better initiative which upcycles high-quality pieces into one-off items. With thousands of tons of clothing ending up in landfill each year often due to small, repairable issues, this ‘rescue’ scheme creates one-of-a-kind pieces that look good and do good.
Charity Super.Mkt will be working with the Royal Ballet and Opera to allow guests to browse and purchase iconic and elaborate costumes worn during the institution’s past ballet and opera productions, sourced from its Scenery Store in Aberdare. Funds raised from the rare pieces, which will be accessibly priced, will go towards the Royal Ballet and Opera Foundation Fund, supporting every area of the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera.
The pre-loved ‘fashion with compassion’ retail concept has already proven hugely popular with shoppers in locations such as Manchester, London, Glasgow, and Reading, selling more than 400,500 items that may have otherwise gone to landfill since its launch while raising over £3 million for both local and national charities including Oxfam, British Heart Foundation, Shelter, Cancer Research, Age UK, and more.
Helen Morgan, Centre Director of St David’s Cardiff, commented: “Our guests have an appetite for unique fashion, while also showing their support to charitable initiatives that we’ve hosted at the centre, so we know they are going to love this new department store offering the best charity retailers in one place.
“Charity Super.Mkt is a fantastic concept which aligns with our sustainability goals, so we’re delighted to host its Welsh debut. Therewill be some incredible items waiting for our guests to snap up, including beautiful, rare pieces from the Royal Opera House’s collection, all while raising vital funds for charity.”
Wayne Hemingway, Charity Super.Mkt Co-founder, added: “We are really looking forward to Charity Super.Mkt’s first store in Wales. Charity Super.Mkt is proving, for the first time, that well curated second-hand charity fashion can sit happily next to large world-renowned fashion brands in busy locations and that second-hand clothing is no longer second best. St David’s in Cardiff is a busy shopping centre and we are relishing being close to Zara, Levi’s, Boss and giving all those shoppers an affordable, sustainable and purposeful alternative.”
TRAID CEO and Co-founder, Maria Chenoweth, said: “Charity Super.Mkt is super excited to be bringing its concept and retail offer to Cardiff, our charities and curation of clothing offer something special, which is sustainable fashion that raises money for good causes. Our mission is to get charity retail into the spaces and places that it would not otherwise operate, we are sure that St David’s will be the perfect pitch.”
Charity Super.Mkt is located on the Upper Mall, near John Lewis and Zara.
