A huge second-hand shop has opened in Manchester city centre and has already become the talk of the town.
Bare Necessities has taken over the former LOFT showroom on High Street, where you’ll find up to 20,000 items of pre-loved clothing on sale at any one time.
The thrift shop specialises in sourcing high-quality used clothing, which is then expertly cleaned and put back on sale as an affordable price.
And it really is affordable – prices start from just £1.
You’ll find row upon row of denim, coats, knitwear, t-shirts, skirts, and accessories, including a rainbow display of tops that greets shoppers as they come in.
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There’s even a whole section of ski clothing, crochet blankets, and fancy dress items.
Inside Bare Necessities / Credit: The Manc Group
Brands like Carhartt, Tommy Hilfiger, Dickies and Barbour are all stocked alongside items like patchwork crop-tops, that have been repurposed from other fabrics.
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Bare Necessities says: “Our mission is to source our forward-thinking customers with the highest quality of used clothing at the lowest possible price.
“Slow fashion shouldn’t break the bank, and only when second-hand fashion becomes more affordable will there be a larger shift towards the used clothing industry.”
The team who work there individually source clothes from piles of second-hand items that are heading for landfill.
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The items are given a full facelift, from de-bobbling knitwear to fixing zips and pockets to being washed and ironed.
Bare Necessities will also rescue damaged clothing and reuse the fabric as much as possible.
Inside Bare Necessities / Credit: The Manc Group
Since the pop-up shop opened in the last few weeks, dozens of people have been sharing TikToks and social media posts of their hauls.
TikTok user Francesca Perks’ video from the store has now gained hundreds of thousands of views.
She described it as the ‘best thrift haul of my life’ and said it was ‘like no other’, before revealing two bulging bags containing a £30 coat, a knitted red jumper, and one of the aforementioned crochet blankets.
Stores like Cow Vintage, Blue Rinse, and Pop Boutique, not to mention the numerous charity shops and pop-ups that line Oldham Street, have turned that corner of town into a haven for lovers of the fashions of yesteryear.
But now there’s a new outpost in the heart of Chinatown – and it’s possibly the most stylish, charming vintage store in the city yet.
Stare Society opened last December, and has put some serious effort into both sourcing the items it sells, and decorating the space it sells them from.
Tucked away up a flight of stairs in a corner unit above Red Chilli, you’ve probably walked straight past it a dozen times already.
Stare Society in Chinatown, Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
But glance up above the long-standing Chinese restaurant and you’ll notice a slowly rotating disco ball in the window, giving just a taste of all the treats in store.
Venture inside and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped right back in time to the 1970s, greeted by the sound of Fleetwood Mac being piped through the speakers (the legendary group are also the stars of a huge framed photo above the fireplace inside).
Stare Society is decorated to the nines – fringed lampshades, rattan screens, glitter ball plant pots, guitars, and a huge leopard print chaise lounge in the window, draped in retro-printed cushions, vinyl records and vintage hats.
There are 1970s-inspired scented candles named things like Cherry Bomb, Tiny Dancer and Rebel Rebel, and all sorts of knick-knacks (sunglasses, tiny mirrors, antique glassware) hailing back to the glory days of rock n roll.
Then there’s the clothes – racks full of leather jackets, leopard-print furry coats, and fringed suede waistcoats.
Retro t-shirts with contrasting collars, with ‘Manchester 1970’ and ‘Chinatown 1970’ scrawled across them.
Cowboy boots painted with stars, piles of colourful felt berets, and loudly-patterned blouses.
The space is so beautiful, it’s actually available to hire, for things like photoshoots and private events, with a vision to host intimate gigs inside in the future.
Stare Society joins the booming vintage scene in Manchester, like Bare Necessities, the online giant that recently hosted a pop-up store on High Street that everyone lost their minds over.
You’ll find Stare Society at 20 Nicholas Street on the edge of Chinatown in Manchester.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Shopping
Greggs announces return of fan-favourite pasty – but vegans are ‘gutted’ about it
Emily Sergeant
Greggs has announced that one of its fan-favourite vegan pasties has returned for a limited time only, but vegans aren’t too happy about it.
In fact, some would go as far as to saying they are pretty “gutted”.
After teasing its comeback for the past couple of days now, with fans of the beloved bakery chain doing some hardcore sleuthing work to try and figure out what it was, Greggs finally took to social media this morning to announce that the Vegan Sausage, Bean and CheeZe Melt is back on the menu at stores nationwide.
The chain explained that after a three month hiatus from the menu to make way for the Vegan Festive Bake in November, the Vegan Sausage, Bean and CheeZe Melt is making a comeback, and is now available to tuck into from just £1.90.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the bake, the vegan-friendly version is designed to mirror the original and much-loved Sausage, Bean and Cheese Melt, and is also wrapped in layers of golden puff pastry – but instead of the classic filling, it’s loaded with pieces of vegan sausage, grated original and mozzarella flavour vegan cheeZe, and, of course, baked beans.
Greggs says the pasty’s return follows “pleas from fans”, who’ve been encouraging it to reintroduce the item back to the menu.
But if social media’s been anything to go by this morning, it looks like those pleas have been somewhat drowned out by disappointed vegans and non-meat eaters who were hoping it would be the popular Vegan Steak Bake returning instead.
Greggs announces return of fan-favourite pasty – but vegans are ‘gutted’ about it / Credit: Greggs
“What has happened to the vegan steak bake? I know I keep banging on about it, but they don’t even stock them in my local Icelands anymore. Miffed,” another fan wrote, while a third added: “The vegan steak bake is so much better than the vegan sausage, beans and cheese.”
Another fan wrote: “Gutted – was hoping for the vegan steak bake.”
While some fans seemed to be happy about it, the general consensus seems to be that the announcement was “pretty disappointing” after they were left waiting all week to find out would be returning.
For those disappointed fans though, Greggs has already launched a new selection of new meat-free menu items this month – with the introduction of the Vegan Southern Fried Chicken-Free Baguette, Vegan Chicken-Free Goujons, Vegan Chicken-Free Cajun Roll, and Warm Winter Vegetable Soup.
The Vegan Sausage, Bean and CheeZe Melt is now available in all Greggs shops across the UK.
Daisy Jackson -
16th September 2022 
