Ben brings The Empty Shop to Manchester

06 Feb 2014

Manchester alumnus Ben Davis has launched a UK first in the Arndale centre - a shop that donors fill with clothes each day.

The Empty Shop Project was developed in Brazil as a new way for people to donate clothes to local charities. The project is based on a simple three-phase concept: donate, style-up, empty. Donors fill the shop with their contributions, which are displayed by a team of stylists and fashion bloggers, and put on sale.

Ben Davis, who graduated in 2013 and has been working as Marketing Executive with Clarke Gough shop fitters through the Manchester Graduate Internship Programme, was responsible for bringing the project to Manchester.

The United Kingdom’s very first Empty Shop project opened in Manchester’s Arndale Centre on Thursday, 23 January for 10 days. Its unique concept will revolutionise the way people consider the act of donating clothing to charity. The Empty Shop works turns the traditional idea of shopping on its head as people bring clothes to the shop instead of taking them away.

At the end of the day, the clothes were taken to charity for the homeless Mustard Tree, who either gave them to those in need, passed them on to other charities, or sold them in their various shops.

This is all explained in the creators’ video:

You can follow the progress of the UK’s first Empty Shop online at:

• Twitter: @EmptyShopMCR
• Facebook: /EmptyShopMCR
• Instagram: EmptyShopMCR