The Handbag Clinic returns to Birmingham's Selfridges
Company which restores and sells handbags has started a three-month residency in famous Bullring department store
A retailer which restores and sells second-hand handbags has opened a new concession stand in Birmingham's famous Selfridges department store.
The Handbag Clinic has created two new jobs with the opening of the residency which will run until January, stocking pre-owned bags by famous designer names such as Chanel, Dior and Mulberry.
The business first came to the Bullring department store 18 months ago but only for three days and, after a run of short pop-ups, it has now embarked on its longest stay yet.
It has appointed a store manager and a sales assistant as part of the project which is based on Selfridges' fourth floor and will be in situ throughout the Christmas shopping period.
Visitors will also be able to get quotes in person for repairs to their own bags and trade in unwanted designer bags in exchange for a Selfridges voucher.
The Recommerce Report, published by auction website eBay, said that 87 per cent of UK shoppers bought second-hand goods in the past year.
The Handbag Clinic runs live shopping events with eBay and sold a Hermès Birkin bag for £18,800 during London Fashion Week in September.
Co-founder and chief executive Charlotte Staerck said: "Each time we've come back to Birmingham, shoppers have given us a reason to stay a little longer and now we have our own team here for the first time.
"Circularity shouldn't mean compromising on the excitement or experience of luxury and that's what we want to show people in the city.
The Handbag Clinic was founded in 2013 and began as a two-person, online repair service which has grown into a business that has restored more than 250,000 bags and avoided 2,250 tonnes of CO₂ emissions by giving designer handbags a longer life.
It has a permanent concession at Selfridges in London.