Retail

STARTS TUESDAY 10th August , then every Tuesday & Thursday
RIVER NETWORK CHARITY
MARKET STALL
TOYS 🧸 HOUSEHOLD ITEMS 🧹 BOOKS 📚 &
ALSO DROP OFF YOUR QUALITY UNWANTED ITEMS TO HELP FURTHER OUR CHARITABLE PURPOSES.

OUR FIRST CHARITY RETAIL opened in Alfreton Market , Institute Lane, Alfreton DE55 7BQ, offering retail trading and job experience for staff & volunteers, whilst promoting and raising finance and awareness for our Charitable purposes.

Often a fundamental part of a local community, charity shops are a crucial touchpoint for a charity’s brand. Charity retailers have their own unique advantages and challenges. They are able to easily compete on price and are uniquely places to respond to changing attitudes towards environmental sustainability and fast fashion. At the same time, they need to me mindful of their charitable objective, while harnessing change and adopting a commercial mindset in order to remain competitive.

Retail services within the charity sector are a great way for people to make use of things they have no use for anymore or for people to acquire useful things when on a budget. However, by October of 2020 charity shop sales were down 19% when compared with sales in October of 2019. By December 2020 sales had dropped by 26% due to the Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown. Whenever these charity shops are closed in the UK it can cost charities upwards of £28 million per month.

Even with all the problems caused during the pandemic however, charity shops outperformed commercial high street stores, which saw sales fall 27.3% by October 2020 and to 31.4% by December 2020.

Due in large part to lack of access to charity shops and similar services during this time, retailers are looking to expand their online presence, while 8% of retailers are looking to begin trading online for the first time. Newlife began its own Retail platform and saw an increase in sales from £19,000 in April 2019 to January 2020 to more than £500,000 in April 2020 to January 2021.