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THIS is the UK’s biggest charity shop, where designer clothes sell for a little as £2.99.
The Thrift, a vast, 12,000 square foot warehouse on an industrial estate in Cardiff, Wales, is packed full with vintage and designer clothing for a fraction of its original price.
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Big name items can be scooped up for under a fiver and the shop has seen 1,000 customers a week since it opened in February.
Owner Gareth Natale built the brand after starting an online second hand clothing business called Deadstock from his bedsit in 2015.
He recalled starting with nothing but a suitcase of vintage clobber from local charity shops and “less than zero money”.
After growing the store, he ran it from a new flat for three years, before moving into the top floor of the current site.
He later expanded to the ground floor too and sales are booming, especially as the cost of living crisis drives demand for cheap, good quality clothes.
He used the extra space to hold a ‘kilo sale’ – where customers pay for items based on weight rather than individually.
Gareth told WalesOnline: “I decided to put an event on – a kilo sale – expecting 50 people to come.
“Then, a whole lot more than 50 people came and I was like, ‘Ok, I think the people of Cardiff are ready for something interesting like this’.
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“Slowly but surely, the word started to spread and eight years later, here we are.”
Although many of his customers are students, he hopes that more people will begin to see the value of vintage and second hand products.
He explained: “The audience for The Thrift, I hope, will be just regular adults who haven’t considered shopping second hand before.
“That’s the goal – to just reduce all of the pinpoints that I possibly can to make it as similar to shopping in a regular department store as possible.”
And the value certainly can’t be faulted.
A Reebok fleece or GAP sweatshirt go for just £2.99, about a tenth of the normal price.
Likewise, Levi’s jeans can cost upwards of £60 when new, but are just £24.99 at The Thrift.
The store is open from 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday for savvy shoppers to enjoy the stunning deals.
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