Selfridges boss: Charity shops can help save high streets

Luxury department stores and charity shops might seem unlikely bedfellows. Some of us might even, reasonably, regard the endless proliferation of charity shops in the local area as a sign that our high street has taken a turn for the worse.

But Selfridges chief executive Anne Pitcher says it’s time to think again. Charity shops, she insists, could be about to play a vital role in hauling town centres – battered by the rise of online shopping and, more recently, the pandemic – back from the brink.

The goal? Working together to make sure more products are used again or recycled – and not thrown away.

‘This isn’t optional,’ says Pitcher, a lifelong retailer who rose through the ranks to run what has become one of the most impressive retail businesses in the world.

‘This comes from consumer demand. Consumers are going to make their own choices and we’ve seen them making those choices in the last couple of years.

‘We’re all looking at ways of trying to bring a circular model into our businesses – recycling, reselling, repairing – and remember, charity shops have been doing exactly that for years.’

To force the point home, Pitcher met with charity shop bosses on Friday afternoon to deliver a call to action that the two opposite ends of the high street must work together more closely. 

Selfridges, she observes, has already cleared space for projects that allowed charity shops to operate in its stores – most recently with Oxfam.

‘At Selfridges Group we want to be a part of the solution,’ she told the audience.

‘Why are we not constantly collaborating with each other? We should be working together and learning from each other to reduce waste, to increase circularity, to bring you online and to bring us to local communities. There is so much potential here for us to reinvent retail together.’

She describes charity shops – impressive because they raise hundreds of millions for worthy causes – as ‘hyper-local’ and with ‘super circularity’ for their ability to find homes for stuff many might think no one wants.

Selfridges can bring its skilful brand and marketing knowledge to help inspire charity chains to rejuvenate their approach and craft a more curated approach to stock categories.

The fashion press is already tweaking the conscience of shoppers. Elle reported recently that ‘if everyone in the UK didn’t buy new clothes for one day, the emissions saved would be equivalent to driving a car around the world 8,640 times’.

Selfridges has already cleared space for projects that allowed charity shops to operate in its stores – most recently with Oxfam

Fast-growing commercial firms have jumped on the theme. Websites offering second-hand products are not new but trendy online firms such as Thrift.Plus are making it more appealing to buy someone else’s fashion cast-offs.

Others, including Rent The Runway and Hirestreet, allow fashion fanatics to bag the best clothes for that special occasion – and then send them back for someone else to try.

Pitcher, who launched Project Earth last year to ’embed’ sustainability into the business, says she doesn’t ‘have all the answers’. But a ‘deep dive’ between the two industries is required to develop closer ties and practical solutions.

‘We have to start somewhere and that somewhere is here,’ she says. ‘We have to embrace new ways of thinking. It’s not necessarily easy but it’s important to have a curiosity about it – it’s very challenging. And very exciting, by the way.’

Add to that the tide seems to be turning against the fashion industry – hardly a standard bearer for sustainability with 3.5 tons of clothing thrown away every five minutes in the UK alone.

She says chains will need to be transparent. ‘We banned fur in 2004 – we’ve been making this part of our DNA. We’ve signed the Fashion Pact [at the G7 in 2019] and now we’ve got Cop26 coming up.’

But while Selfridges’ products might have a life beyond the first few wears, what about cheap, fast fashion? Some of them are also burnishing their ‘sustainability’ credentials while some of their products barely last the first night out. ‘I think products will need to have more value in the future. They will need to be worn more than once and we have to understand what that means for customer behaviour.

‘What is happening is that people are saying, ‘Yeah right, sustainability’ – in a way that says they don’t trust you [when firms make claims they cannot substantiate]. There’s going to have to be a lot more regulation around claims companies make. I think customers are very aware of whether a claim by a retailer sits within the company’s culture. There has to be an authenticity and an integrity about this. Either way, I think the consumer will decide for us.’

Selfridges’ owners are currently in talks over a possible £4billion sale – Pitcher can’t comment because the process is wrapped in secrecy. But whatever happens, it’s unlikely to be among the losers when the effect of the pandemic subsides.

Other retailers, already caught in the turbulence, may struggle to cope with evolving consumer demands.

‘It’s been the most difficult 18 months for many businesses. It came very quickly and really knocked those businesses that perhaps weren’t in the best shape going in.’

But she adds there is a ‘cautious optimism’ about the new season and for Christmas, with parts of London last week looking busier than they’ve been for 18 months.

‘People are enjoying being back to work, customers are enjoying coming back to the stores.’

Anne Pitcher, 65: A shop girl at heart 

Career: Started out as a ‘shop girl’ at 16: ‘That is a core part of who I am.’ Promoted three years ago to group managing director.

Post-lockdown fashion: After ditching high heels for the past 18 months, Pitcher says shoppers will be swapping flat-soled shoes for something more glamorous. ‘People are dressing up. There is a renewed demand for eveningwear and partywear.’

Christmas must-haves: Hampers are expected to be big. ‘There is a really strong interest in food and health and the way we live our lives at home. And, of course, we’ve all been wearing face coverings so we’re keen to get back to wearing make-up again.’