Red Cross revives recycled fashion market

The Queensland arm of the Australian Red Cross is rapidly making its mark on the retail fashion scene, opening a spate of new charity stores and refurbishing old ones to attract a new breed of clientele. Jill Pullen spoke to head of retail operations David Muirhead about the charity's recent expansion.
The Queensland arm of the Australian Red Cross has played a pivitol role in reinvigorating the pre-loved fashion market.
Originally established in Queensland in 1914, it wasn't long before the charity expanded its range of services to include second-hand clothing stores to raise much needed funds for homeless and disadvantaged people living in Queensland.
Today the organisation boasts a grand total of 43 stores across the Sunshine State, 17 of which feature a new store fitout, which the charity has been rolling out to its stores over the last three years.
New store features including air conditioning, vinyl flooring, a new blue colour scheme, brighter lighting, washing machines, clothes dryers and improved store signage to raise the image of the charity within the local community.
"With our retail shop expansion program and the introduction of the new merchandise, we have over the past two years doubled our sales over the previous year," says Muirhead ("Three years ago, when I started with the Red Cross, our best shop sales were $40,000 per year. We now have several stores which will take more than $250,000 this financial year."
Last year was a particularly successful year for the Red Cross, opening three new retail stores in Morayfield, Townsville and Kippa Ring. Shops in Sunnybank, Yeppoon and Ayr were relocated to larger premises and store refurbishments were undertaken at Toogoolawah, Sherwood, Yarraman, Ipswich, Geebung, Hervey Bay, Stones Corner and Rockhampton stores.
Muirhead says the relocations and store refurbishments are having a positive impact on the organisation's sales, reporting a 56 per cent increase in sales during 2004 to more than $880,000.
Sales are tipped to increase by a massive 101 per cent this year.
Another three retail stores are also scheduled to open their doors in the next 12 months in prominent shopping locations in Queensland.
New stores will open in Rockhampton Central, Milton and Atherton in far north Queensland between now and October.
An additional three to four stores will be opened by the end of June 2006.
Store refurbishments will also be undertaken in existing Red Cross stores at Sherwood, Mackay and Innisfail later this year.
All Red Cross stores stock three categories of men's, women's and children's clothing, footwear and jewellery - donated pre-loved clothing, purchased pre-loved clothing and new merchandise.
Some stores also stock a small range of manchester, books and bric-a-brac.
"Because the Queensland division of the Australian Red Cross does not have donation bins around the community, we rely on public donations to come through our shops doors, or from phone calls from kind, would-be donors requesting a "Many clothing companies have also been generous with donations, whether they be end of season ranges, seconds or just unwanted stock. Some companies have offered us clothing at $1, which would have previously cost them $6 to $10."
A broad range of Australian and international fashion labels are stocked in the stores at bargin prices, with the company also seeking out apparel manufacturers and importers on a regular basis to donate specific products to "complete" their in-store collection.
"While the price of our stock depends on the quality of the garments and the actual cost price, customers can rest assured that when they visit our stores they will get a good bargin," says Muirhead.
"We never put high retail margins on our purchased stock as we want to pass the savings we have gleaned from our suppliers onto our customers. For instance, we have a new brand of men's shirts that retail in major department stores for $49.95 which we sell for $15."
All profits generated by the stores are used to run a variety of community service programs across Queensland, which aim to help homeless and disadvantaged children and youth, people living with disabilities and the elderly.
"The Red Cross relies on commercial activities and the generosity of the general public for our income. We deliver some services for governments under fee for service contracts but we don't receive any government support beyond that," says Muirhead.
Red Cross stores are located in both popular shopping centres and outside shopping strips, with stores ranging in size from 130 sqm to 200 sqm.
"We find that our merchandise offer in both strip shops and shopping centres does not change a great deal but we do take into account local demographics," says Muirhead.
"Window frontage themes and displays are similar in all our new stores but in some shops such as Caloundra, Logan Central and Townsville that have a huge window frontage, we incorporate hang sell along the windows as well as window mannequins."
Muirhead says creative visual merchandising is vital to the success of all stores, and as such has worked tirelessly in his four years with the charity to revive each store's presentation.
"If our windows don't have appeal then we will not entice the passing traffic through the front door, no matter how good our offer is inside the shop. I endeavour to make all our stores look appealing."
"The positive feedback we are receiving from customers about our new look and our product offer is very satisfying."
The Australian Red Cross currently operate more than 120 stores nationally, with each state maintaining complete control of their own retail operations.

COMPANY: The Queensland division of the Australian Red Cross.
HEAD OF RETAIL OPERATIONS: David Muirhead
NUMBER OF STORES: More than 45
PRODUCT: All stores stock three categories of men's, women's and children's clothing, footwear and jewellery - donated pre-loved clothing, purchased pre-loved clothing and new merchandise.
PROCEEDS FROM SALES: Go towards funding community-based programs across Queensland to help disadvantaged children and youth, people living with disabilities and the elderly.
TARGET MARKET: All ages

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