In Knutsford, around the corner from the ‘artisan butcher’, between shops selling ‘illustrious menswear’ and ‘cruisewear’, sit charity shops that look just like any other charity shop in the country.
However, a step inside reveals a treasure trove of donations from the great and the good. If ever there was a charity shop bargain to be found, it would be here. CheshireLive's Jonathan Blackburn has taken a look at what the town's charity shops have to offer.
The window of the Red Cross shop is filled by a wedding dress woven with intricate patterns in pearl. Around the back of the dress, the label contains a RRP for the gown: £1,500, but it's selling for £550. A veritable steal. The dress also has a note urging customers not to touch.
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I doubt I’ll find anything more expensive than a wedding dress, surely? It was a question answered swiftly by Adrian Harrison, 66, manager of the Barnardo’s on Tatton Street.
“This is the more expensive of the pair,” Adrian says, producing an oil painting of a charming cottage on some rugged mountain in the Lakes. “This could fetch £2,000.”
A pair of oil paintings had been donated to the shop by the same man, with the other valued at £1,500. Both are to be sold at auction. In the window of the shop, a 1920s fine china tea service is priced at £199, and on the wall, another painting is up for sale at £250.
“It’s like Christmas Day every day,” says Adrian. “You just never know what’s going to be in these bags.” He disappears into the back of the shop. When he emerges, his arms are full of strange silver bowls, blades, tools and utensils.
At Cancer Research, designer suits, dresses, shoes and bags are marked by over-sized labels. Famous names - Calvin Klein, Boss, Michael Kors, Kate Spade - written in bold felt tip.
Shop manager Sandra Daniels takes me through the myriad of designer handbags all locked up in glass cases. A Michael Kors bag for £65, and a Mulberry bag for the same price. A Kate Spade bag, worth £200, she tells me, is going for £45.
“Once we had about 45 Mulberry bags, all at the same time. We had a queue coming out the door,” says Sandra.
Then she reaches for a box in one of the glass cases. Inside are a delicate pair of turquoise shoes, “Ferragamo,” she says, “the type Marliyn Monroe used to wear.” A blue sticker on the sole read ‘£45’. The box still has the original price sticker of £345.
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