St Basils staff at the opening of the pop up shop in Great Western Arcade
A youth homeless charity opens its first pop-up vintage shop today thanks to a generous donation by Great Western Arcade.
St Basils, which supports young people aged 16 – 25 years old experiencing homelessness, will be selling a range of vintage clothing, sports memorabilia, and trainers from their Great Western Arcade pop-up. T-shirts of 90s icons including The Simpsons and an array of Disney characters are on sale as well as sports clothing from brands like Adidas and Nike. Vintage football shirts include teams from the English Football League, as well as shirts from countries like Brazil, Poland, and Mexico. There is also an extensive collection of American sports clothing from ice hockey through to baseball, basketball, and American football.
The items and use of the store has been donated by Great Western Arcade owners, Ashtrom Properties. Left by a business who vacated the arcade, the clothing and memorabilia would normally be disposed of. However, Ashtrom Properties have gifted the items to St Basils to sell, with 50 per cent of the profits retained by the charity. The company has also waived the cost of rent of the store.
As well as selling vintage items, the space will be used as a drop in for residents and businesspeople to find out more about what the charity does and how they can support them and young people experiencing homelessness in the region.
Barrie Hodge, head of fundraising and communications for St Basils said “We are delighted that Great Western Arcade has allowed St Basils to open a pop-up vintage shop there. As a charity we don’t have any charity shops, which is a bit unusual, so this is a new experience for us all. But being right in the heart of the business and shopping areas of the city means we can let more people know about the great work we do.”
Yvonne Moulton, general manager at the Great Western Arcade said “We couldn’t be happier to host St Basils’ vintage pop-up shop here in the Great Western Arcade. It’s fantastic to see unused space transformed into something vibrant and meaningful, especially when it supports such a worthy cause.
“By providing St Basils with a platform to showcase their work, we hope to raise awareness about youth homelessness and encourage more people to get involved in tackling this issue.”
The shop will initially open Monday to Friday, 11am – 5pm, with plans for special events and weekend opening being announced soon.
For more information on the St Basils vintage pop-up shop, visit the charity’s website stbasils.org.uk or social media accounts.
