The doors to Greater Manchester’s massive pop-up charity ‘department store’ are closing this week, and it’s launched an UNMISSABLE sale to celebrate.
In case you missed it, Charity Super.Mkt opened inside The Lowry Outlet shopping centre down at Quayside MediaCity back in November of last year, and during its extended 12-week run, it’s proved to be a huge success – having sold more than 8,000 items to the value of more than £64,000 over the last couple of months.
Over two tonnes of clothing has also been saved from landfill since the pop-up opened in Salford, as has more than 20,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions – which is apparently equivalent to travelling over 79,000 miles by car, 3.2 times around the world, or saving enough water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
And so, in a bid to celebrate its success and to suitably “go out with a bang”, everything in the shop has been reduced for the final week of opening.
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This means that, from now up until this Sunday (28 January), savvy shoppers have one last chance to bag themselves the bargain of the month, as the prices of all items have been slashed to just £3 each.
Some of the top picks you can get your hands on for only £3 this week include band tees, forgotten football tops, and all sorts of denim, as well a range of sports gear and players shirts recently-donated by Super League rugby club, Salford Red Devils.
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Greater Manchester’s massive pop-up charity shop is closing its doors this week / Credit: Supplied
All proceeds from sales made this week will be donated to the charities involved with Charity Super.Mkt – including St Vincent de Paul, Traid, and All Aboard.
“The success of Charity Super.Mkt has shown that there has been a real shift in consumer shopping habits,” commented Wayne Hemingway MBE, who is the co-founder of Charity Super.Mkt, as the £3 sale was announced.
“People making a concerted effort to shop more sustainably and with purpose, and Charity Super.Mkt facilitates that and more, allowing people to shop at reasonable prices while helping a good cause too.”
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The prices of all items have been slashed to £3 each for the final week / Credit: Supplied
Mr Hemingway has insisted this “isn’t the end” of Charity Super.Mkt at MediaCity.
He continued: “We’re looking forward to returning this summer during We Invented the Weekend festival, and continuing to foster the sense of community support and charity that the North of England does so well.
“We’ve really showcased that fashion can be fun, affordable and fair to all.”
Fancy a £3 bargain then? Charity Super.Mkt is open until this Sunday (28 January), before returning to Quayside MediaCity for the We Invented the Weekend festival on the 15 and 16 June.
Featured Image – Supplied
Shopping
The Pop Up Club – pop-up shop for independent retailers to return to Manchester this weekend
Thomas Melia
The Pop Up Club is coming back to Manchester city centre this weekend, offering a prime retail space to independent businesses and small creators.
Through providing this platform for these businesses, The Pop Up Club has managed to help its traders earn £1.5 million across all their previous events which run up and down the UK.
The brilliant pop-up retail space was previously on King Street in Manchester, but this time The Pop Up Club is moving into the Manchester Arndale.
Shoppers will be able to choose from the curated traders on offer, such as beautifully handpainted watercolour illustrations from By Tilly, celestial and nature inspired jewellery by Sian Mellor designs and beaded bracelets from That Wild Feeling.
It’s also helping to promote local talent as it shares the work of Manchester based unique printed homewares from Lydia Meiying.
Moonshine Prints, a trader who creates a variety of fascinating and eclectic wall art for everyone to buy and display in their homes, will also be at The Pop Up Club when it returns to Manchester.
The Pop Up Club will offer a chance to browse local traders who normally wouldn’t have a platform as big as this, while also supporting art and culture direct from the north.
Tillie Peel, creator and founder of The Pop Up Club.Inside the incredible retail space providing opportunities for small businesses.Peel, admiring works by small creators which are part of her small business initiative.Credit: Publicity Pictures
The businesses The Pop Up Club uplifts and works with may be small but the amount of traders definitely isn’t – they’ve shone a spotlight on more than 500 independent retailers since setting up the social enterprise.
It’s also nice to hear that creatives who have worked with them in the past would more than likely consider working with The Pop Up Club again as according to the statistic on their website, ‘100% of traders said they would return’.
The venture was founded by Tillie Peel, who says: “Manchester has always welcomed us with open arms, and the friendly Northern spirit was calling us back once again.
“Utilising an empty space at the Manchester Arndale is a dream come true for us, as it puts us at the heart of shopping in the city and with events such as the Christmas Markets returning, the footfall of the city centre will be highly welcomed by us and all our traders in our Manchester store.
“With over 5 million small businesses in the UK*, there are so many that deserve attention and shopping small can bring huge benefits to the economy as well as supporting local income. This Christmas is the perfect time to shop from small businesses and independent traders, where a purchase can make a real difference to that brand.
“Our network of independent businesses have found being in our stores offers real value, as well as allowing them to speak to customers, see the reactions in real time to their items and to get a taste of what the high street has to offer.”
Shoppers who just can’t wait to get on down to The Pop Up Club can browse the shop in person on 16 November at Manchester Arndale.
Viral K-Beauty brand Pureseoul is opening a store at Manchester Arndale
Daisy Jackson
Any skincare enthusiast knows that nowhere makes products quite K-Beauty brands – and now Pureseoul is set to open its first Manchester store.
The viral favourite is set to move into the Manchester Arndale later this month, with shelves packed with Korean skincare and beauty products.
When Pureseoul opened stores elsewhere in the UK, hundreds of fans queued up to get inside from as early as 5am.
That’s partly because of their incredible opening day goodie bags, with the first 200 in the queue in Manchester set to receive more than £300 worth of the store’s most-loved products.
Korean beauty and skincare has been a favourite among beauty gurus for years, but we usually have to buy these cult products online. Now shoppers will be able to browse in person.
Pureseoul is the UK’s leading K-Beauty retailer with shops already open in London, Birmingham, Brighton and Oxford.
Their Manchester store will be their first foray up north, promising to fill the 1,500 sq ft Arndale unit with more than 1,000 iconic Korean beauty and skincare products, plus the latest K-Beauty trends and must-haves.
There’ll be Pureseoul-exclusive brands like Torriden, Rom&nd, Beplain, and AOU just to name a few, in addition to innovative beauty tools.
Shoppers can also enjoy in-store demonstrations and personalised product recommendations from staff.
Gracie Tullio, co-founder and creative director, said: “We are thrilled to announce the opening of our largest store so far, located in the heart of Manchester!
“After working closely with the Arndale team for over a year to find the perfect location, we are excited to welcome more than 2,000 fans on our opening day to join in the celebrations.
“Our Manchester customers have shown incredible support on our social media, making it the most requested city for our next store. We are honoured to create this new space for a community that truly loves Korean Beauty.”
Felicity Loftus, marketing team lead, added: “We’re thrilled to finally bring the IRL K-Beauty experience to the North!
“After the major success of our recent openings, we’re excited to bring back our viral K-Beauty goodie bag for the first 200 in line alongside over 5000 additional goodies for everyone attending on opening day. We can’t wait to welcome and celebrate with our Northern community!”
Pureseoul will open on the first floor of the Manchester Arndale, near River Island and Next, on Wednesday 27 November at 11am.
Goodie bags worth more than £300 will be given out to the first 200 people in the queue.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd January 2024 
