CWB speaks to independent schoolwear retailers about the ins and outs of incorporating pre-loved school uniform into their offers.
Niki Khera, owner, Uniforms by Niki
“We have been offering pre-loved school uniform to our local community for the last four years. Plain items are donated to charities, but any item with a logo is offered to our community via our online store and shop in Walton Hall Farm. Prices start from £1 per item to cover our costs for collection, washing, repairing and preparing the garment for re-sale. Our pre-loved schoolwear is sourced through the schools in our network by collecting their lost property from them and also via donations from parents. We then categorise these items in terms of wear and tear and carry out any minor repairs needed to actively ‘recycle’ the garment back into circulation for parents to purchase. The pre-loved range is displayed as a clearance rail in-store and under the pre-loved banner on our website. We make the purchase of these items as discreet as possible, treating it as any other sale, so customers do not feel any shame in selecting pre-loved items. Pre-loved garments are also packaged and sent out in exactly the same way as a new item. Customer feedback is that they absolutely love our pre-loved offer. We even have some parents pre-registering for items in case they come in. As one of the first companies to introduce the concept of recycling school uniform in Thurrock, we have seen several pre-loved businesses pop up since. Undoubtedly, the demand for pre-loved uniform has grown due to the ever-increasing cost of living, but also because people are becoming more aware of these simple changes we can all make to our purchasing habits to create a more sustainable way of living. We plan to continue growing our pre-loved business by accepting lost property from the growing network of schools that we work with. As we expand our business, we hope to eventually be in a position to offer pre-loved uniform cost-free through our UniCycle Project.”
Molly Burton, director, Smiths Schoolwear
“We were already thinking about introducing our Pre-Loved Scheme before the Education (Guidance about the Cost of School Uniform) Bill came in. We are always looking for ways to adapt and grow the business. And, inspired by the buzz around second-hand in other retail sectors, we thought ‘why not do it for school uniform?’ In April 2021 we began taking customers’ good quality, used school uniform in return for credit to use on future purchases with us. We thought that by doing so, we could reward everyone who participates in our Pre-Loved Scheme. We only really take logoed items or we’d be inundated. We also don’t want to compete with PTAs and their second-hand uniform sales, so we focus on secondary school uniform, which PTAs don’t tend to cover as much. On receiving the pre-loved items we refresh them, package them and list them on our website. Prices start from 50p. We don’t have space to hold the pre-loved stock in-store. It’s available exclusively via the website, with each school having its own Pre-Loved page. Pre-loved is a lot of work – more than we anticipated – due to the sheer bulk of items, the processing, and the storage. However, the feedback we have received from parents and schools has been overwhelmingly positive. Pre-loved offers families affordable alternatives if they can’t afford a new logoed uniform or want to purchase extras. It also encourages recycling. It hasn’t affected our sales either. Customers still like to buy new where they can, and many buy pre-loved as spares. I think pre-loved school uniform will be even more popular this year, partly due to the rise in the cost of living, but also because of changes to consumers’ lifestyles and attitudes around sustainability. Second-hand used to have a bit of a stigma, but nowadays it is widely available and accepted.”
Helen Greaves, company director, S&H Schoolwear and Sports
“We launched our pre-loved school uniform rail in January 2020. It was something I’d been considering for a few months beforehand, I just needed to work out how the scheme would run and how the financial side of things would work. I was aware local charity shops didn’t accept badged uniform. Customers also fed back they had nowhere to donate their unwanted school uniform and felt, despite it being used, it was still in such good condition that they didn’t want to throw it away. We also listened to customers who felt that uniform is initially expensive to purchase. So, demand was there, hence our scheme was born. We provide pre-loved uniform via a dedicated rail in-store. The stock comes from customer donations as well as donations from schools when their lost property becomes full. We accept any badged uniform for any of the schools we sell. For generic items, we direct people to a local charity called Newstarts, which gladly accepts them. We decided to offer pre-loved items for sale. Everything was £3 per item apart from blazers, which were £5. All funds raised go directly to Primrose Hospice in Bromsgrove. Unfortunately, I was criticised on social media for setting these prices, so we now state these figures are suggested donation amounts only. If anyone is struggling, they can just pay whatever they can afford. There’s a collection tin on our counter for the hospice and all donations go straight into the tin. We recently had our third tin collected; since January 2020, we have raised a total of £1000.37. We are so proud of this achievement, to raise over £1k is phenomenal.
“While many schools now offer second-hand uniform, they close during the school holidays when demand is highest.”
“We have essentially centralised pre-loved uniform in Bromsgrove and can offer advice on sizing and gender- and year-specific items. Lots of families have purchased additional pre-loved PE kits from us over the last couple of years. This is due to many schools now asking pupils to attend school wearing them on the days they have PE. We’ve also seen an increase in the number of refugees attending schools locally and, whilst many schools offer help with the cost of uniform, pre-loved can act as a backup and provide families with a very cost-effective second set of uniform. I expect to see further demand this year as families face the cost of living crisis. Because we only have room for a rail, and some pre-loved items can be slow-moving stock − particularly first school donations where PTAs regularly hold uniform sales − I’m considering linking up with an overseas charity that can make use of these unwanted items. Any recommendations are welcome. It would be amazing to see the uniforms of Bromsgrove travel far and wide in the world. There are no two ways about it, pre-loved uniform does cost us sales. However, feedback from customers and schools has been overwhelmingly positive. It saves families money and reduces the amount of clothes going into landfill. It also further strengthens our business; raising our profile within the community and bringing new customers into the shop with whom we can create longstanding relationships. I also feel pre-loved uniform demonstrates the excellent value for money it represents initially. As a local family business, we support local families. Our pre-loved rail demonstrates how we listen to our customers and always go that extra mile. It is lovely to be able to give something back to the community that has supported us over the years.”
