The UK’s first-ever ‘department store for second-hand style’ returned to where the concept was first trialled in 2022.
The event, which was the first standalone Charity Super.Mkt at Coal Drops Yard, took place 10am-6pm daily and 10am-5pm on bank holiday Monday. Visitors discovered an incredible selection of pre-loved clothing, from beloved designer brands to high street favourites. Participating charities included The British Heart Foundation, Fight for Sight (formerly known as Vision Foundation), Havens Hospices and Traid. The event will also saw the return of the beloved Repair Shop.
Thanks to the amazing support from shoppers, the event raised over £50,000!
Charity Super.Mkt’s journey began in October 2022 when HemingwayDesign assembled a group of charity retailers to create a cohort of charities as part of their biannual Classic Car Boot Sale at King’s Cross. The concept was an instant hit and was soon given the brand Charity Super.Mkt, returning every year as part of the Classic Car Boot Sale and growing bigger each time.
Since launching its first pop-up store in January 2023, Charity Super.Mkt has expanded its reach across the UK, generating over £4 million in sales to date for charitable causes. This latest event responded to the soaring demand for pre-loved fashion, offering visitors a unique retail experience packed with quality, affordable finds in one celebratory pop-up.
HemingwayDesign has deep roots in charity retail at Coal Drops Yard, having previously worked with King’s Cross to bring Shelter to the estate, and design the interior and retail space for its flagship Shelter Boutique store - the very first charity retailer to be an anchor tenant in a new retail development. Today, Charity Super.Mkt operates seven pop-up stores across the UK including Glasgow, Reading, Cardiff and three in London, with one in Spitalfields Market. Shoppers can explore curated collections of high-quality, affordable second-hand fashion all under one roof, sourced from the UK’s best local and national charity retailers.
From the likes of Shelter, Oxfam and The British Heart foundation, Charity Super.Mkt supports life changing causes UK-wide, making every pound spent in store a good one, not only socially but environmentally too. To date, Charity Super.Mkt has sold 398,146 items of clothing, raising over £4 million for charitable causes, prevented 130 tonnes of textile waste from reaching landfill, saved 206,528.32 m³ of water and prevented 1162 tonnes of Co2. This is the equivalent to filling 83 Olympic swimming pools, driving 4.5 million miles and planting 3,870 trees.
Wayne Hemingway, co-founder of Charity Super.Mkt, said: “When we first gathered the charities together in Coal Drops Yard a few years ago, not for one minute did we think that the seeds of this massively impactful and much loved brand that Charity Super.Mkt has become, were being sown. Now it seems so natural to find curated charity fashion next to the likes of the Coal Drops Yard stalwarts such as Paul Smith, Universal Works, Blackhorse Lane Atelier, Cos and Uniqlo. It's a small sign that fashion, retail and the public are becoming kinder and more thoughtful.”
Maria Chenoweth, co-founder of Charity Super.Mkt, said: “The mission of Charity Super.MKT is to get charity retail into the spaces and places that it would otherwise not frequent - and we have! From Brent Cross to Bond Street we have made charity retail more accessible and therefore mainstream. Having a four-day, standalone event at Coal Drops Yard, with its highly curated food and retail offering, provides further confirmation that we have succeeded in our mission.”
Chrissy Cullen, Related Argent’s place marketing director, added: "We were delighted to welcome Charity Super.Mkt back to Coal Drops Yard, this time for its first standalone event here. King’s Cross has always been a hub for creativity and forward-thinking retail, and hosting Charity Super.Mkt underscores our dedication to supporting sustainable shopping practices and charitable causes. This special bank holiday event brought together an incredible selection of pre-loved clothing and we loved seeing the treasures people found!”
So far Charity Super.Mkt has:
Raised over £4 million for charitable causes
Sold nearly 400,000 items
Prevented 130 tonnes of textile waste from reaching landfill
Saved 206,528.32 m³ of water
Diverted 1162 tonnes of Co2
Environmental stats from this single four-day event:
Number of items sold: 4,969
Total weight: 1,419.64 kilograms
Estimated CO₂ savings per Kg: 12,776.4 kilograms
Estimated CO₂ savings per tonne: 12.78 t
Estimated cubic metres of water: 2,271.36 cubic metres
Equivalent miles travelled: 48,432.15
Equivalent trees planted: 42.55
