Ethical : ⁓ hello and welcome back to the charity shop chat podcast with myself, Charlotte Greenwood. ⁓ Unfortunately, Mimi can't be with us today, so I am flying solo for this episode. As always, this podcast is powered by the charity retail consultancy. helping charities build retail that's commercially strong, people-led, and fit for the future. And through charity retail learning in partnership with the CRA, we're giving teams the tools to deliver that every day. So today's episode is all about rethinking what a charity shop can look like. Not just how things are priced, but how the whole experience comes together. Traditionally, charity retail has followed a fairly fixed model. Items are priced, placed on the shop floor, and customers browse. But more and more, we're seeing organisations experiment with different ways of engaging people. So whether that's through pricing, layout, or even bringing in things like cafes to encourage people to stay longer and interact differently with the space. And when you start to shift those elements, you don't just change how the shop looks, you change how people behave, how long they stay, how they feel, and ultimately how much they spend with you, which is exactly what today's guests are exploring. From pay what you feel baskets to creating a space where people can spend time, not just money, they're taking a slightly different approach to charity retail. So we're going to unpack how that works in practice, what the response has been from customers and what the wider sector might be able to learn from it. So welcome to the podcast, Tasha, Hannah and Gareth. Amelia Cartwright: impact how that works in practice, what the response has been from customers, and what the wider sector might be able to learn from it. ⁓ welcome to the podcast, Tasha, Hannah, and Gareth. Ethical : It's such a pleasure to have you with us. a pleasure of having you here. Thank you. Amelia Cartwright: It's such a pleasure to have you with us. Such a pleasure of having you here. Thank you. ⁓ So an easy one to start off with. Can you tell us a little bit about Ethical Boutique and the Safe Foundation and what you guys do for the shop? ⁓ Ethical : So an easy one to start off with, can you tell us a little bit about Ethical Boutique and the Safe Foundation and what you guys do for the shop? Amelia Cartwright: Yes, great. So, ⁓ Ethical Boutique is our shop in St. David's 2 in town. It's our charity shop, but the charity itself is called the Safe Foundation. So, Safe Foundation has been going for a decade and a half, nearly now. It'll be 20 years this November. 20 years this November, I lie, okay. And ⁓ what... Ethical : Wow, happy anniversary! Amelia Cartwright: Safe Foundation do as a charity is we help marginalise communities out internationally. So we have partnerships that ⁓ we have for a long period of time. We help them out however they need ⁓ help really, whether it's to do with providing them with clean water or education, basically trying to better their lives and make... them have a more equal chance of life as well, like we would have over here. ⁓ And we've had our long-term partnerships with ⁓ international people, but then we leave and go somewhere else because the point of basically trying to help as a charity is to make sure they can stay sustainably on their own afterwards and they don't need us anymore. But currently we're having, working with two places in India and two places in Africa. And we're still fundraising right now for our Sierra Leone project. ⁓ which is building a boundary wall around the school that we help fund. So we fund for the equipment and the teachers there. But we also have amazing training we do in Wales. across all of South Wales we provide free training for young people from 30 or under to basically find more ⁓ work, getting skills to become employable as well. Ethical : Brilliant, I love that. there's a mix of kind of local work and also international, which is lovely to hear actually because most charities are either either or aren't they? Yes exactly, yeah. Amelia Cartwright: and also international, which is lovely to hear actually, because most charities are either, either, or. Yes, exactly. Yeah, which is which is lovely for our customers to hear because then they realize we're as well as ⁓ our trade free training, providing so much opportunities for volunteers as well, because there's lots of different things, lots of different ways to get involved with safe. So not just coming in and working in your regular charity shop. There's loads you could get involved with. And the way that the charity works overseas and also in Cardiff and Swansea, Every couple of years we apply for funding and ⁓ we actually take volunteers from Cardiff and Swansea ⁓ over to ⁓ where we do our projects overseas. So for example, ⁓ last November, November before we went over to India and we took 10 young volunteers from Swansea and Cardiff. went herself, the lucky devil. ⁓ So we went and worked in a community centre that we helped fund. So it's a local group of people that are in the lowest car system ⁓ out in the South East India so they get absolutely no help from the government so we've been supporting them for a long time. So we went over and we ⁓ delivered sewing classes. So we took a textiles expert from Swansea and then we paired up with a textiles expert from the local area and we delivered classes and we showed local women how to make eco cook bags. So that's a cook bag that you can finish off your cooking with without any fuel. Solar, outside in the sun, in hot countries. So, every couple of years we will do a cultural exchange like that so it's a nice way to combine. so our next trip we're hoping will be this winter over to Sierra Leone. Ethical : That's an incredible opportunity. Yeah ⁓ Wow, and it's great for the volunteers to really understand the cause and what the money is going for all of their kind of hard work, what that is going towards. Amelia Cartwright: Yeah, and to see what the charity does and those placements are funded so you know those placements are open to people who wouldn't normally be able to afford to do such a trip. Exactly and for a lot of the young people it's their first time ever traveling going somewhere else. First time on a plane. such an eye-opener being in such a diverse different culture and seeing how people are less fortunate than us just because of Ethical : Exactly, and for a lot of the young people it's their first time ever travelling and going somewhere else. First time on a plane. Such an eye-opener being in such a diverse different culture and seeing how people are less fortunate than us just because of where they've been born. Yeah, it gives you perspective doesn't it? Definitely. Fantastic. Okay so Hannah and Gareth what do you guys do for ⁓ the Ethical Boutique or Safe Foundation? Amelia Cartwright: where they've been born. Definitely. So Hannah and Gareth, what do you guys do for ⁓ the Ethical Boutique also foundation? Okay, so I'm one of the managers at Ethical Boutique. So we set up our first shop eight years ago up on Witchurch Road, so a bit further out from the town centre. So that went really well and we kind of engaged in the community and just created this tiny little charity shop that was really vibrant and colourful and had lovely group of volunteers. last year we decided we wanted a bigger space, we wanted to expand a bit, we fancied coming into town so we could reach more customers, reach more volunteers and we were really lucky and we've been given this space in the centre of town so this work, this current store has been open for a year now. Ethical : Brilliant, love that. Amelia Cartwright: I'm a volunteer and mainly do the barista stuff for the shop. Ethical : volunteer and mainly do the barista stuff for the shop. is great. One of our coffee mentors as Yeah, I'm a coffee mentor as well. So Gareth is a lot more experienced with baristaing. Gareth's worked in coffee shops before so he's sort of taken on... Amelia Cartwright: You're one of our coffee mentors as well. coffee mentor as well. so Gareth is a lot more experienced with baristaing. Gareth's worked in coffee shops before, so he's sort of taken on a bit more responsibility and is helping mentor and train younger volunteers that have come through our barista course so they can come back after the course is finished and practice and just gain a bit of confidence really. Gareth's great at being there for them and boosting their confidence. Yeah we've Ethical : bit more responsibility and is helping mentor and train younger volunteers that have come through our Barista course. Lovely. can come back after the course has finished and practice and just gain bit of confidence really. yeah, Gareth's great at being there for them and boosting their confidence. That's great and he also does some podcasts himself recording and so he was a good help with me setting up this episode without Mimi I have to say. so if we can talk about the ⁓ pay what you feel basket so you've got ⁓ what you feel baskets can you explain for our listeners how that works then? ⁓ Amelia Cartwright: So right at the front of the shop, so for all eyes to see, we've got these big open baskets and it is literally pay what you feel so you can dig in have a really good rummage and if you find something you like you take it to the counter and you pay what you want to for that so the reason we do this is because some people can't afford ⁓ even say a fiver so we want to make part of our shop accessible and affordable to people that might only have 50p so that's part of the concept of it so that was our main concern that was our main drive for the pay what you feel and it's working really well. you can imagine as a charity shop the amount of clothing you get as well. so has a slight stain has a button missing and there There's nothing wrong with clothing like that. Everyone has a conception of pre-loved clothing needing to be perfect if it has to go on a rail and be priced. Whereas actually there's nothing wrong with mending what you have, keeping what you have and not throwing it away. It's a good way to encourage people to do something with that item of clothing. And because of fast fashion like Hannah was mentioning, the training I help run for instance in Cardiff, we do more training workshops than Swansea too. We teach during retail training about the impact of fast fashion industry and the last stats we had which was from last year so they're probably even higher now but was 92 million tons of clothing gets thrown into landfill a year. Ethical : of clothing gets thrown into landfill a year. It's a scary figure isn't it? mean it's a fantastic initiative. If your visual merchandising of the shop hadn't drawn me in already those baskets would have done. So I came to Cardiff a few months ago and I was like oh what's this shop? This looks cool. I was like oh my god it's a charity shop. No I have to go in. Amelia Cartwright: Okay, yeah. Yeah, really draws people in and I think just the words in, because a lot of people haven't heard that phrase before, we constantly have people walking past and they say it out loud. They're payers you feel? Yeah, they're figuring it out in their own heads by verbalizing it, so it really draws people in. So it's kind of just an amazing all-rounder really. And some people go Ethical : Is this real? Yeah. So it really draws people in. it's kind of just an amazing all-rounder really. And some people go, well what if I feel like paying 20p? I go, well then you pay 20p. And they're going, no, really? And is it a really wide range of pricing that you get from people? Like they'll either give you more than actually it's worth or they'll give you less. It's quite a good way to encourage people Amelia Cartwright: what if I feel like paying 20p and I go well then you pay 20p for that item and they're going no really It's quite a good way to encourage people to give cash donations because we don't have cash buckets out or that kind of thing. if we've got a particular campaign going on, at the moment, as Tash was saying, we're campaigning to raise funds for a boundary wall for the school we fundraised for in Sierra Leone. know, recently we've been doing like Easter traditional raffle. Everyone loves a raffle. You know, we've got posters around the shop sort of talking about the campaign so it's a good way you know if people are doing pay what they pay what you feel they might give an extra fiver yeah they go I'll pay this for a pound and put the four quid added to the to the fundraiser Ethical : Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's brilliant. And what kind of stock do you put in there? Is it kind of stock that you've tried to sell already on the shop floor at a higher price? So it's kind of your end of line. Slightly unsellable. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Amelia Cartwright: kind of stock do put in there? it kind of stock that you've tried to sell already on floor? All sorts. Yeah. So it might be end of line or like Tash was saying it might be a really nice garment that might have like a tiny hole or you know we might not have time to mend it ourselves. ⁓ Which we do sometimes do if there's time. We've ⁓ helped run ⁓ repair workshops as well and things like that to try and teach people to look after the clothes we've already got rather than throw it away you can fix it. Or it might be an out of season garment, try and keep the shop really seasonal. there's a nice mix in there ⁓ but yeah it's worked really well we've been doing it for about six months now and it's yeah it's been great Ethical : Yeah, really circular. Yeah. Yeah. Might be an out season. We get a lot of that, we? Charity shops are always getting summer stuff in winter and winter stuff in summer. So there's a nice mix in there. Amelia Cartwright: so... And the other sort of obvious thing about the pay what you feel bins is like everyone loves a bargain. Yeah. So you know... Yeah it's so cheap. Ethical : They do. They do. Like even if you might not 100 % want it but you're like, do you know what? I'll pay what I feel like I can just get it anyway if I change my mind it's not a big deal I can come back and donate it because I only paid 50p. Amelia Cartwright: And clothes are so expensive, know, it's a good way to draw people in and get them into our shop. Another thing as well, like if you are paying like 50 pence for something, you're far more likely to go, ⁓ I'll just give that to a friend when I'm done or re-donate it. And we do try and encourage like swap shops and things like that. We've set up swap shops and things like that too. like it might be your pre-loved item from before, but someone else will think, ⁓ this brand new thing that really changes my whole wardrobe and this new outfit. Ethical : We try and encourage like swap shops and things like that. We've set up swap shops and things like that too. like it might be your pre-loved item from before but someone else will think ⁓ this brand new thing that really changes my whole wardrobe. Or they're really into upcycling and they're really creative in that way and they can do something different with it. Amelia Cartwright: for sure. Yeah. And it all has a good knock on effect because it'll it just gets people into the shop and then they might say, yeah, do you take donations? Because we're one of only two charity shops in the Time Center now. Yeah. So we're sort of really flourishing. ⁓ Yeah. The rent is so high in the city center. Most charity shops can't afford to be here. We've been very, very lucky. LandSec who runs St. David's have given us this rent free so we've been very lucky so that's how we've been able to be here. Very lucky yeah very fortunate and yeah and shout out to National Lottery as well who fund our ⁓ training but ⁓ Yeah, it's not to go without saying there is tons of clothes shopping though in town. Like absolutely high street, it's bustling with like things that are fast fashion but also maybe a bit more upmarket. ⁓ A lot of the vintage-y shops now are more... high quality and high end prices as well. So we are like Hannah's mentioned, one of the only charity shops in town. There is other shops that sell things a lot of our style at the same time too. But that is coming from like different areas. It's not like pre-loved clothing. It's probably like bulk bought in some warehouse. Yeah. Often shipped, shipped over from places like Germany, the vintage shops. Yeah. Yeah. Ethical : Absolutely. Yeah, Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and actually you're right. Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah And interestingly, so you're in a shopping center st. David's shopping center and it is huge I think it took me 15 minutes to walk from the car park. I got a space in the shopping center and I was like, ah, it's really far away. Okay It's massive. So how How is that does that affect your donations? Because I know when I worked for a hospice charity and we had 17 shops. Shopping centres we had to provide the stock for because we just could not get donations because people don't want to lug their stock in. Well also you can't just park your car and leave an outside. Yeah, can't do the drop and dash. Amelia Cartwright: yeah it's a lot more difficult well also you can't just park your car up or your van outside so yeah so luckily for us because we've been running for quite a long time now people know our brands they know Safe Foundation and we've got some really loyal supporters ⁓ and also the town centre is full of really nice flats and apartments so we get a lot of people on foot donating but we've also there's a loading bay ⁓ so at the At the moment you can't access it because there's some building work, but normally there is a way of driving up the back so in the future in about a month's time customers can drive in with instruction from us. we can also, like there's a couple of us that work for safe that are happy to, if there's a big bulk of donation when we need some we've asked for it. You know if someone's got a car ruck full and they can't bring it into town themselves, me or Sophie or Angie or Ethical : it. ⁓ Amelia Cartwright: whoever have been happy to collect it. Yeah. And I think we did worry about it being in a sort of big commercial city centre, shopping centre. thought, you know, is this our vibe? Should we be doing this? But it's been wonderful because it's so easy for our volunteers to get here. We're reaching out to a much bigger audience and people bring clothes in every day. We get less bric-a-brac donations because they're heavier and harder to bring in. Ethical : and collected. Amelia Cartwright: but we still have a wonderful collection of And I think just using social media if we're short on things we can do a shout out. We've got really good following on Instagram. So yeah, so so far so good. Ethical : And I think just using social media, we're short on things we can do a shout out. We've got really good following on Instagram. So yeah, so far so good. Brilliant, okay. Moving on to your cafe then. You've got a lovely cafe at the front of the shop. What role does that play in your overall model then? So initially in our first... Amelia Cartwright: So initially in our first shop we didn't have coffee shop but over the years we created conscious coffee which is free Breaster training for, as Tash said earlier, for under 30s. It's all about giving people job skills, giving people confidence. we've been delivering our conscious coffee rooster course for a couple of years now and then we also now have a truck called Betty ⁓ we take Betty to music festivals, local events, food events. ⁓ Ethical : love that betty Amelia Cartwright: and we sell coffee to raise money for the Safe Foundation. So we get the majority of our fundraising throughout the summer. it's incredible. Green Man, Womads, small festivals in West Wales. But the concept around that is that it's a platform for our volunteers who have come and done the Riester course to practice or for other volunteers within the charity to come and get just get some confidence boosting experience. Ethical : ⁓ really? ⁓ wow! Amelia Cartwright: When we got given this unit, it was so big, we thought brilliant, we can create a conscious coffee cafe within the shop. it meant that Tash and Dieter can deliver their conscious coffee course on site and we can also sell coffee. it's all, you know, this is something we've been doing for a long time, having a bigger space we've been able to bring it And having the CAF has really changed the dynamic of the shop. Like you said at the beginning, it's a bit more out there than what regular charity shops do. It's created like a hub space that people come to because ⁓ volunteers come and hang out here as well, like even when they're not doing a shift for us, ⁓ people feel like now they can come and like use it's a safe space, literally safe foundation space. And it's totally plant based as well. Yeah, we don't use any dairy. Yeah, so all the stock, all the products we use are nice and ethical and sustainable as well, so it's great. And our coffee is locally roasted as well, so trying to make less carbon footprint on everything we do. And our cups are actually biodegradable, unlike most. Everything kind of fits in with your Ethical : Yeah, so all the stock and products we use are nice and ethical and sustainable as well, so it's great. And our coffee is locally roasted as well, so trying to make less carbon footprint on everything we do. And our cups are actually biodegradable. Wow, so everything kind of fits in with your values then, which is lovely. Very authentic. Yeah, sure. Amelia Cartwright: Yeah, with our ethos, our vibe. Yeah, for sure. And it's given us the opportunity for... all the people that work for safe and volunteer for safe to have one space to all work together which has been really really great hasn't it for sure yeah yeah that's a nice yeah we're gonna steal that off you thank you Ethical : And do you think it brings in a different audience or do you think it changes how people feel comfortable coming in? I I spoke to another charity and they talked about the linger longer and that's what you want people to do is to linger longer in your shops. I loved it, I know I've stolen that completely. Amelia Cartwright: The more you've got to offer people, the more likely they're gonna be hearing. spend time. the types of customers that come in, mean like there's a preconception about charity shops that middle-aged to elderly people will come and ⁓ shop in their mall but we find that actually the regular customers we have coming in all the time for a coffee who aren't spending money are more the middle-aged to elderly that feel comfortable here they come like daily or weekly and they come and have their coffee or their tea that they really love offers. Have a natter, they can bring us biscuits to me. One particular customer that comes every day, we love him. Won't mention his name but shout out, you know who you are. then we're finding that because the Front of the shop being the cafe making it look busy it draws more people in as well and having those pay as you feel baskets having the combination of the calf making it more like a lounge sort of space at the front is surprised by the Cafe B in there. Yeah, which is great. Yes unique isn't it brings in all ages Ethical : in as well. those pay as you feel baskets, having the combination of the calf making it more like a lounge space at the front. do get surprised by the cafe being there. is great. It's unique isn't It brings in all ages. Gives you more to talk about and you can explain more about the charity. Yeah, that's true. It's a good option to say what we're doing as well elsewhere. Amelia Cartwright: Yeah, it's a good option to see what we're doing as well elsewhere for projects. how did you come about volunteering for the shop? Ethical : that's a volunteer and a coffee mentor then. So how did you come about volunteering for the shop and the cafe? I the conscious coffee course. Oh, you did the course. Brilliant. Amelia Cartwright: I did the conscious coffee course. ⁓ you did the course? Yeah. Brilliant. Even though I'd worked as a breeder for two and a half years before. But I went into care, came ill and needed to get back my confidence and get out the house. That's brilliant. How long ago was Ethical : That's brilliant. How long ago was that? Amelia Cartwright: been off work now for year and a half so about a Ethical : what has this meant to you then how have you found the whole experience volunteering going through the course and then carrying on to volunteer and be a coffee mentor ⁓ Amelia Cartwright: what has this meant to you then? How have you found the whole experience volunteering here, going through the course and then carrying on to volunteer and be a coffee mentor? It's actually saved me. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the charity. ⁓ To honest with you. ⁓ ⁓ was written off by everyone and then ⁓ come here and everyone's just welcomed me. ⁓ Ethical : And they've given you value. I'd assume you've found that confidence and you've found a purpose as well, which is lovely. ⁓ Amelia Cartwright: and they've given you value. like the theme you've you've got confidence and you've found a purpose as well, which is love. And without volunteers that help us, like literally wouldn't run, we wouldn't be able to do everything we achieve and then be able to support new volunteers that want to come in as well. And the fact that Garrett's gone from doing the training to now being a coffee mentor just shows like ⁓ in a short amount of time and the amount you help us at events and you're on the coffee bus and we can leave you to it. training people on the coffee bus. Yes, exactly. It's amazing. Ethical : in a short amount of time. In short amount of time. And the amount you help us out. It's amazing. Amelia Cartwright: all the different elements of the cogs of how a system works is how you get it running and without people giving up their time for us. This is why we value so much the people that come and help us. ⁓ Ethical : ⁓ Yeah, volunteers are just the lifeblood of charity retail. Literally we could not do it without people like you Gareth. So thank you so much for giving up your time to do it. It's just incredible. And I love the fact that you are upskilling your volunteers, giving them progression opportunities to mentor other volunteers. I think that's a fantastic initiative that more charities could do a little bit more of. Exactly. Yeah. And like I said, Amelia Cartwright: Yeah. Exactly, yeah and like I said before there's so many different ⁓ elements that you can do to up up your skills or so many different jobs we need volunteers to do for social media planning we've got like admin things We need people to help for fundraisers for organizing events. We even have like some really creative volunteers who help us make ⁓ jewelry or the bunting or whatever we're doing, you know. So there's literally so many different roles, so many different skills to be able to share and pick up. I used to volunteer for SAFE as well before I even worked for it. Hannah's the whole reason basically I'm working for SAFE because I used to shop in the... Ethical : The whole reason basically I'm working to save. ⁓ brilliant. I used to shop in the... ⁓ Amelia Cartwright: ⁓ original ethical beauty and then and she's probably a man she's like you know what you'd be a great volunteer for us and then i was like right sold volunteered for them and i work for safe so yes Ethical : She poached you. Headhunted. You're a great volunteer. then I was a volunteer for them. now I work for safety. Shop managers are very good at that, persuading customers to become volunteers. ⁓ are. I was like, you're the lover. You love the festival. Amelia Cartwright: I was like your lover. We love the festival. Tash used to be a nanny for years and she'd be super busy all day and she'd pop to the shop right at the end of the day just as I was closing and I'd end up keeping the shop open for you because you'd buy about 20 items. And we'd be nattering. we'd be nattering. I recruited you for an, like I said earlier, do lot of festivals so you came and did a festival with us and we sucked you in then. Exactly. And we've kept you. Ethical : You're still here? I've started doing performances at your events and stuff like that. Fantastic. Now sucked in for life. And what's your favourite thing about working here then? Amelia Cartwright: started still here, started doing performances at your events and stuff like that so yeah it was just yeah now now sucked in for life. Thank you guys. Ethical : Yeah, they're good people. Lovely. Any advice for anyone who's thinking about volunteering that might be in the same situation that you were in? Just go for it. It's isn't it? ⁓ Just do. Yeah, good ⁓ Amelia Cartwright: good people. Any advice for anyone who's thinking about volunteering that might be in the same situation that you were in? Just go for Don't think, ⁓ do. ⁓ Ethical : So your space feels quite different to a traditional charity Amelia Cartwright: So your space feels quite different to a traditional charity shop. Ethical : ⁓ How important is visual merchandising in creating that experience? Amelia Cartwright: ⁓ How important is visual merchandising in creating that experience? ⁓ Yeah, I think that's key, really. ⁓ We've always been of colourful, vibrant charity anyway. And ⁓ yeah, we just want people to have fun they're here. ⁓ Yeah, take it in and stay here. You know, you don't want to walk into a boring, dull shop. It's not going to keep you here. But yeah, I think just small things like... Tash mentioned our rag bunting. So we make bunting just out of scrap fabrics. it's a really chilled out activity to do with volunteers. Super easy. You don't have to use sewing machines. ⁓ So just things like sticking rag ⁓ bunting up that we've made ourselves just to make the place a more colorful. ⁓ And also you noticed we've got images of our benefits. as well. So we like to kind of give give a bit of info about yeah, yeah, so I think I mean in our last shop we had big panels and we had one of our wonderful friends Grant printed these gorgeous prints with lots of information about the charity but unfortunately they don't they don't fit in this one but ⁓ well we've we've we've repurposed the photos yeah and I tried to paint as best I could the murals that looked like his is a much better But we've kept the really colorful murals and the photos of ⁓ the literal communities we help ⁓ throughout as a theme, basically. Yeah, because I think with such a tiny... grassroots charity we're just based in Cardiff and Swansea so a lot of people don't know about us so it's a good way to sort of yeah pass on our message and show what we are yeah So you're not afraid to do things a bit differently with your pay as you pay what you feel baskets and your fantastic virtual merchandise and I can't wait to load some of these photos up on Instagram. Ethical : what we are. yeah. So you're not afraid to do things a bit differently with your pay as you pay what you feel baskets and your fantastic visual merchandise and I can't wait to load some of these photos up on our Instagram because it's a fantastic looking shop. Can you share any examples of more quirky or unexpected displays that you've tried that have been really successful? Amelia Cartwright: Thank you. ⁓ have lots of customers helping ⁓ us ⁓ to decorate. had a ⁓ make it making us a whole model for Halloween, which was incredible. ⁓ And in case people have been into town and been past, we're usually the shop that has the Grinch mask at the front all over Christmas and everyone's like, is that for sale? No. But yeah, we do. Yeah, the Glitter Ball helmet, disco helmet was out for quite a while. Everybody wanted to nab that too, but. Ethical : Christmas and everyone's like is that for Santa? No. Amelia Cartwright: Not for sale, it's just a display piece, but it's drawn people in. We try and like make the models a bit quirkier than your average charity shop Ethical : But not for sale it's just a display piece, but it's drawn people in we try and make the models a bit quirkier than average charity shop And how customers respond to that do you notice it changes how they browse or engage with the products? ⁓ Amelia Cartwright: Yeah, I think it starts a conversation, you know, they might have a laugh and... it encourages them to talk to you and come into the shop. So I think, yeah, just having a bit of fun with our work. Yeah, it's been good reaction. it's been good reaction. families, know, like especially at Christmas or Easter or Halloween sort of display, it's drawing more children in, making them feel like relaxed and they can have fun and chat to us at the front of the cafe and that gives parents time to like go and browse around as well. So yeah, basically just drawing people in and I think it's welcoming. Welcoming. Ethical : So all of these ideas that we've talked about, the very open pricing, cafe, the fun visual merchandising, it really challenges the traditional shop model. And you've really talked about diversifying your income as well with Betty Bus and... your kind of coffee course and everything. What has all of this taught you about how people actually behave in charity shops? Amelia Cartwright: think it relaxes people. think they feel, because it's got, think charity shops have more of a homely feel than a big commercial shop. I think it's not intimidating. I think a lot of these expensive high street stores are intimidating because of the price and the way they look. So I think it's about relaxing our customers, making them feel welcome. Making a community happen. it's a lot of the time, going to the events or like seeing the same regular customers every day whether it be for browsing around we've got certain people that come around to just look for a new item piece of jewelry every day or a new ⁓ what is the latest clothing we've put out or in the cafe but it's literally bringing back the same customers we get to know about their lives they get to know about us it's making that real sense of community and that brings them to further events and then they meet more people in that environment as well so it just it's yeah it's made little sense of family in the shop and then community around yeah a bit of a sense of spirit. ⁓ So if we think about assumptions about charity shops, what assumptions do you think needs rethinking from outsiders who aren't experienced with Ethical : of spirit. Yeah, so that if you if we think about assumptions about charity shops, what assumptions do you think needs rethinking from outsiders who aren't experienced with charity shopping? Definitely. Amelia Cartwright: Definitely that ⁓ pre-loved clothing has to be out of date or old-fashioned looking, ⁓ that secondhand isn't good enough. Everything we get here that we put out with a price tag on is really good quality. We get things sometimes that are even brand new with labels still on and there is no need for things to go into landfill at all. The vast fashion industry has put in our minds because they've advertised for generation after generation after generation that, that's out of fashion now, this is the latest new style, like be yourself, wear whatever you want and nothing is out of style, like there's no rules. Like fashion is a playground still at the end of the day and you can put something together that costs nothing and look fantastic. Vivienne Westwood put it best, like buy less, look fantastic, right? Like shout out to her, she was the best. Ethical : Vivienne Westwood put it best, buy less, look fantastic. Shout out to her, was the best. For charities listening then, out of the cafe and the pay what you feel baskets, if you could advise them to test one of those things, which one would you recommend? Amelia Cartwright: Well, I think we already had our conscious coffee set up, we were sort of running with that anyway. So I think, you know, the pay what you feel baskets are just genius. think they work wonderfully. Philip Ha, as a manager, came up with the idea. And, you know, it's not going to cost the charity anything. You know, we managed to get the baskets, some of them for cheap, some of them for free. you know, it's not gonna cost the charity anything to start that up. It's easy, you don't have to steam the item, you don't have to put it on the hanger, you don't have to put... You just throw it in the basket. makes life a lot easier sorting through donations. And can I tell you story about that? I grew up in North Wales as well, and there was a charity shop that had a couple of little charity shops here and there. We've seen have like bargain bins. Ethical : Yeah, just dump it, dump it the basket. Yeah, yeah. It makes life a lot easier sorting through donations. Can I tell you a story? Go for it, of course. Amelia Cartwright: But our pay as you feel baskets, I think rather than say it like a bargain bin, like it's throwing it away, we like to encourage that the clothes are still fine and we put them in different size section, big baskets as well. So you've got the small, medium, large, don't you? ⁓ So it's great to encourage for people to root through and think, ⁓ it's still a special item to get. Whereas when I was growing up in North Wales, I rummaged through this bargain bucket with them. classic charity shop ⁓ This was Wrexham. ⁓ And ⁓ yeah, they had Dolce & Gabbana velvet ⁓ ⁓ the bargain ⁓ bin ⁓ that I got and ⁓ definitely more what the bargain bin price was And I said, ladies, if you see this label, this branding, Ethical : Wow! my goodness! Amelia Cartwright: please never throw it in a bargain bin. Make sure you've got it the front of the shop. This is a gold velvet Dolce & Gabbana jacket, which I am buying and I'll give you sufficient money for, but yeah, just make sure if you are a charity shop as well, something we always encourage is like research the label. Like lots of volunteers we've got think of pricing something for us, but we always check it through shop managers because... Ethical : This is a gold velvet Dolce & jacket, which I am buying Amelia Cartwright: they don't know that maybe a label might cost something really expensive. I don't know if you've heard Desiguel is Barcelona designer clothing and I find that in charity shops all the time for really cheap and it's so unique and stylish but people put it for next to nothing. tip there for charity shop managers or volunteers out there listening. There you go. Ethical : I don't know if you've heard. ⁓ is Barcelona design clothing and I find that in charity shops all the time. Top tip there for charity shop managers or volunteers that listening to this, look out for that brand. So what I love about this episode is that when change rules of the shop, seem to change how people behave. ⁓ So whether that's pricing or created a space people want to spend time in, ⁓ small shifts definitely have a big impact. And this isn't about copying just one model, it's about being open to testing new ideas because it's difficult out there, let's face it. Rising costs, harder to get people to part with their money, we have to try new things. And charity retail can evolve and when it does, it creates opportunities to reach more people and drive more income. And that's exactly where the Charity Retail Consultancy supports charities. helping them to test, refine and scale ideas that strengthen both experience and performance. We've done many reviews for shops and those with cafes as well and we found that our visual merchandising training has helped increase average spend by more than £6. So do get in touch if you need support with this either online or in person. So before we wrap up then guys, it's time for our shop shout out. Is there a charity shop or a reuse space or initiative or another social enterprise that you would like to give some love to? Amelia Cartwright: Before we wrap up then guys, it's time for our shop shout out. Is there a charity shop or a re-use space or initiative or another social enterprise that you would like to give some love to? Yeah, definitely. So, Cardiff's a really small city but there are some really cool organisations. One of them we wanted to give a shout out to is Sustainable Studios, which is really cool concept. in Grangetown area. Yeah, just by the stadium actually. space that's three stories they've got a cafe they've got a workshop space but they create a platform for young designers to come and make their clothes and they focus on sustainability but they also put on wonderful events yeah yeah we've hired out the space before to use for our workshops and They have life music. yeah, what they do, they've just got a great ethos. And the people that run that, actually take apart like clothes that are ruined and put them back together in a really cool design away and sell them at the sustainable studio as well. And a shout out to just because me and you live not far away from it and the amount of charity shops that are on Albany Road, everyone who lives in Cardiff will know. So so many good ones. But Greyhound Charity, Ethical : shout out to Amelia Cartwright: Shop that's on Albany Road have a fantastic display all the time They really repurpose and reuse and recycle things and make it look fantastic. We do displays agree. Yeah, It's a great charity shop. So yeah ⁓ Ethical : Brilliant, thank you. So thank you so much for joining us. It's been a really brilliant and insightful conversation. I've also really particularly enjoyed hearing the volunteer perspective because it's not a voice that we often get on the podcast and we always love to have volunteers to come and talk to us about their experience because we couldn't do it without you guys. So thank you very much for joining us. To our listeners, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to follow, leave a review and share it with someone who loves charity shops just as much as we do. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn at Charity Shop Chat and at the Charity Retail Consultancy and make sure to check out Ethical Boutique too and Safe Foundation where can they follow you guys? Amelia Cartwright: So we've got quite a couple of Instagram ones. So ethical boutique with underscore in between, Safe Foundation with underscore in between, and our consciouscoffee.project on Instagram too. We have LinkedIn tree as well if you wanna look up ⁓ Safe Foundation so you can find all of our different pages and various social media things as well. Ethical : a safe foundation so you can find all of our different pages and various social media. Brilliant, give them a follow guys. shops are full of stories that deserve to be told and we love sharing them with you. Until our next episode, bye! ⁓ you so much! Thank you guys, bye! Amelia Cartwright: Charity shops are full of stories that deserve to be told and we love sharing them with you. Until our next episode, bye. Thank you so much.