A high street with more charity shops than anything else is often said to be a high street that is dying. And yet, in a new report on high street trends, the number of charity shops is declining.
But should we see them – or shops along a similar model – as a way to save our precious high streets? Businesses are still opening, but they are mainly service providers. Barber shops are the largest growing retail category, followed by beauty parlours. Tellingly, there has been an increase in the number of shoe repairers. Could this be a symptom of shifts, witnessed in other European countries, towards reuse, rather than the consume-and-dispose model typical of the high street?
In Finland, there has been a rise of a network of giant non-profit reuse stores, such Kierrätyskeskus in Helsinki. These shops sell all kinds of secondhand goods including furniture, but also have sections devoted to repairing and upcycling (creating furniture and clothes out of recycled parts). These shops have been a big success with customers saying they not only like the low prices but the sense of helping the environment.
A version of this type of shopping has been around for a long time in France, in the form of the Emmaus charity shops, which sell a far wider variety of secondhand goods than our own charity shops, plus objects that have been restored or mended.
As consciousness grows of the environmental damage caused by consumerism and the unethical basis of cheap clothing, shopping has become a chore, not a leisure activity.
While there are healthier leisure activities than traipsing to the local shopping centre, it is still important for high streets to flourish. They give communities a focal point and reduce car dependency. But instead of trying to shore up customers with the old model of fast fashion, excess choice and spend-it-all mentality, perhaps the solution is an evolution into a sustainable experience, based on longevity, uniqueness, and where local food, local trade and local services can all be found.
