Reshaping the High Street for a new generation who value community & sustainability
LONDON, JUNE 2013
The Designer Jumble Sale has been awarded a free space on Camden High Street this June, as the winners of a Collective and We Are Pop Up competition. Collective is a pioneering project putting Camden Town at the heart of the UK’s creative community, led by Camden Town Unlimited (Business improvement district) and supported by the Mayor’s Regeneration Fund and Camden Council.
The shop will be open at 69 Camden High Street, Camden Collective’s dedicated popup space, 11.30am-7.30pm, 25 June to 30 June.
This is a timely choice, amid news that more shops than ever stand empty on British high streets while reports show that a new generation of shoppers are choosing trade that supports communities and sustainability. (See http://metro.co.uk/2013/05/20/the-number-of-empty-high-street-shops-reaches-a-new-11-9-per-cent-high-3800886/ and http://www.fastcompany.com/3012446/creative-conversations/the-sharing-economy-comes-of-age.)
“Designer Jumble has hit the zeitgeist: fabulous fashion but in a fun environment. It has reinvented shopping for the next decade of the high street. I love it!”
Entrepreneur Baroness Lane-Fox.
What is the Designer Jumble Sale?
Founded by former Vogue.com editor Abi Chisman, the Designer Jumble Sale sells high-quality secondhand designer clothes and accessories at affordable prices, with a focus on promoting craftsmanship, recycling and accessibility.
This is the second such victory for the Designer Jumble Sale since it launched just 6 months ago. The Designer Jumble Sale opened its first popup shop in December 2012, after winning a rent-free space on London’s prestigious Lambs Conduit Street, courtesy of retail agent Farebrother. The shop recorded high density sales per square foot from a standing start.
The shop demonstrably increased footfall to the street and gained good press coverage (including being named one of the five best popups by The Evening Standard in December 2012). It also gained the approval of neighbouring retailers and landlords. “The Designer Jumble Sale were a pleasure to deal with and added greatly to the retail environment of Lamb’s Conduit Street,” says Toby Fuhrman, Associate Partner, Farebrother.
Says Chisman: “It is a silver lining to the cloud hanging over our high streets: that small independent businesses like ours can afford to bring new enterprise to spaces that would otherwise stand empty.”
A new kind of business, reinventing the high street
The Designer Jumble Sale works with agents and landlords to cover the business rates on empty spaces, increase footfall, drive social media awareness of places, and create new customers for neighbourhoods, as well as promote community cohesion, through special events and tie-ins with existing local retailers.
It is a mobile business, always ready to move into a new space at a week’s notice; it has the feel of a local shop but the work ethics of a chain, boasting a carefully curated stock that is refreshed every week giving locals new reasons to return to their main shopping streets; it brings its own loyal customer base with it and uses social media to embed itself within each new community.
It also has a very clear ethical mission. It aims to promote recycling, sustainable fashion, fair trade, craftsmanship, new talent and holds a well-established charity sale every six months, during London Fashion Week, which appears on the official London Fashion Week events schedule at londonfashionweek.com, with the blessing of the British Fashion Council. All profits from this one-day event go to charity. To date, the Designer Jumble Sale has helped raise thousands of pounds for charities including Medicins Sans Frontieres, The Ovarian Cancer Trust, JustForKids Law and the Central London church where the events are held, The Church of the Annunciation Marble Arch.
In May 2013, The Designer Jumble Sale also opened a popup in Willesden Green, to participate in a community project helmed by Meanwhile Space (Community Interest Company). The idea is to give local women a compelling reason to return to their high street. Brands in the shop include Gucci, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Prada, Vivienne Westwood and Marc Jacobs; prices range from £10 to £350. And initial figures are positive: courting only local publicity, the shop saw a very good sales density from the first week.
Where to find the Designer Jumble Sale
Now till 31 August 2013 at Unit 1, Queens Parade, Willesden Green, London NW2 5HT
25-30 June 2013 at 69 Camden High Street, London NW1
Plus a one-day special charity sale on 18 September 2013 at The Church of the Annunciation, Marble Arch, London W1H 7AH
Contact Abi Chisman on 07525 135 969 or abchis@mac.com for info, quotes, images and find us at
facebook.com/designerjumblesale
twitter.com/designerjumble
