SA

@Fred Main reason from my experience is to employ a paid manager because volunteers are overall less reliable or don't like to do certain aspects of the job - like the adding up, training, covering illness in other shops, banking, buying supplies, ensuring H&S legislation is obeyed (COSSH) etc.  Great volunteers certainly exist, but the ones that can run a shop and do all the other little jobs ...

Woolbrook's point about "Well lit and inviting" for two of the charity shops is an interesting one. Industry research (Mostly Association of charity shops/Charity Retail Assc) suggests that this the "jumble sale" style shop is often more profitable in many areas and people associate it with bargains. Bright lights and posh fittings cost money which isn't going to the cause and this "turns off" ...

Brooklyn; I said many managers are paid - you make the same point but indicate I was wrong. Not sure how, if you read what I wrote rather than would you seem to think I wrote! Also, volunteers are not employees. You may be right about landlords claiming a tax loss, I'm not a landlord of shops. They'll have to declare the payment to HMRC (They stopped being called HMCE in 2005) and it's ...

So why are high streets being "overrun" with charity shops?  This is a national issue from the smallest town to the biggest city. Personally I think any one style of shop is bad for variety. Professionally, too much competition is bad! It's simple. The high street is dying. Big chains and traditional businesses are liquidising on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. The internet is to blame, of ...

Gosh...  As somebody who works for a charity who's had a shop in Dawlish for some time, can I put some things straight above? I do understand, and actually share, some of these concerns, but there's some quite wrong things being said here at a technical level. Next post will address reasons. Most charities certainly do have control over their shops and wouldn't give their name (and ...