Charity Shops

[New Judge]

Following a recent trip abroad Mrs New Judge and I were talking about some of the shopping areas we had visited. It occurred to us that neither of us had ever noticed any charity shops when outside the UK. Of course when travelling we tend to visit the tourist hot spots or beach resorts and do not usually frequent the equivalent of Croydon or Basildon High Street. But nonetheless we wondered if charity shops are a peculiarly British phenomenon. Have any AB-ers come across any charity shops whilst abroad?

[woofgang]

They have them in the US called "thrift stores"

[boxtops]

Yes, I've come across the equivalent of Cats Protection shops, in Spain - but I can't say I've noticed others.

[237SJ]

Come to think of it, no I haven`t. I have seen craft shops where the money goes to poor local communities although that`s not quite the same thing.

[EcclesCake]

Loads of them in the US.

Can't recall coming across them in Europe though.

I wonder if they are a part of the local Markets?

[sunny-dave]

Have seen occasional ones in Portugal - very local and low-key though, compared to the industry that we have here.

[catswhiskas]

Mainly for animal charities, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus.

[Buenchico]

Charity shops in this country only have to pay 20% of the normal business rates for their premises. (That's actually a maximum. In some cases they might get additional relief). If such a system doesn't exist elsewhere, it might be uneconomic to run charity shops in other countries.

However, from the last time this question was asked, it seems that there's at least one charity shop in Reykjavik!
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Shopping/Question451380.html

[2sp_]

I think they're called Op Shops in Australia and NZ.

[Mosaic]

They are quite big in Japan - recycling rather than charity. Seen the cats protection shops in Malta recently - wonder if this is a British influence? Also, second-hand / recycling of clothing has been quite ig at markets across mainland Europe, combined with regular flea markets for furniture and bric a brac, so perhaps there isn't the demand for charity shops.

[rsvp]

seen them in South Africa

[New Judge]

Thanks all.

Seems the concensus is that the industry is not so prolific outside the UK.

Best answer goes to Chris for the Iceland connection!

[heathfield]

I know of one in the centre of Singapore. It doesn't sell secondhand stuff, but local craft products instead. Proceeds go toward helping house the poor.

[kvalidir]

They have them in Germany too.

[EcclesCake]

On reflection are the Thrift Stores and Op Shops actually supporting a charity or are they just second hand shops?

[stewey]

We have lots of thrift stores in Ontario: the Salvation Army actually has a chain of them. Most of them are sponsored by a recognized charity, and you pay no sales tax on purchases. Some say that they donate a portion of their sales to a certain charitable organization, and you do pay sales tax. And of course we also have second-hand stores and Ye Olde Antique Shoppes. As an aside, the prices in the Salvation Army stores are not very thrifty.

[mccfluff]

my aunt and a group of friends run a charity stall in one of the markets in KL, they sell second hand clothes/books & make craft items, all the profits go to a womens shelter

[stewey]

Where is KL?

[modeller]

In the US I saw many IRA 'charity ' shops.

[mccfluff]

sorry stewey - kualar lumpur in malaysia

[shoota]

They have many 'Emmaus' charity shops in France who employ recovering addicts to run the shops. They are a great source of vintage French ephemera and are much frequented by Brits.