Yahoo Finance Supermarket chain Asda to start selling second-hand clothes in shops
Asda has revealed it will start selling second-hand clothes in 50 of its UK stores.
The supermarket chain, which was previously owned by Walmart (WMT), said the move will prevent thousands of tonnes of clothes going to landfill every year.
Asda’s George clothing brand has partnered with specialist wholesaler Preloved Vintage Kilo on the venture to “give a new lease of life” to pre-worn garments.
It comes after the UK’s third largest grocer already successfully trialled the concept in a store in Leeds in October last year.
The second-hand clothes, which will be traded under the name Preloved Vintage Wholesale (PWV), will be available in a selection of its 632 stores across London, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh and Brighton, among others.
The grocer said it would enable customers to "buy vintage, retro and second-hand branded pieces, preventing thousands of tonnes of garments going to landfill each year".
READ MORE: Walmart agrees sale of Asda to billionaire brothers for £6.8bn
Mel Wilson, head of sustainable sourcing at Asda's George clothing and homeware brand, said: "We know that sustainable fashion is something that's really important to our customers and colleagues.
"They're passionate about us encouraging everyone in the UK to think about the issues of waste and how we can make fashion and textiles more circular, so that we really can reduce the number of garments that go into landfill."
Meanwhile, Steve Lynam, managing director at Preloved Vintage, said the company had prevented more than 800 tonnes of clothing ending up in landfill.
"In a world where we are becoming more environmentally conscious this partnership will help bring sustainable fashion to the mainstream which is something as a business we strive for in everything we do,” he said.
"The more people that buy into the circular economy and shop vintage and retro the bigger impact we will have on climate change."
Earlier this year Asda was sold to the billionaire Issa brothers, who amassed a fortune with their petrol station business EG Group, and investment firm TDR Capital for £6.8bn ($9.5bn). This was through a jointly owned company called Bellis.
READ MORE: Billionaire Issa brothers swoop for fast food chain Leon
Last week the UK's competition watchdog said the takeover of Asda could lead to higher petrol prices in some parts of the country.
The Issa brothers operate 395 petrol stations in the UK, while Asda owns 323. Joel Bamford, senior director of mergers at the Competition Markets Authority, said the parties involved were both "key players in the market".
Earlier this year, Asda also announced a major restructuring that could see up to 3,000 back office roles disappear, although it said it planned to create 4,500 new roles in online operations.
The company has started consulting with more than 1,000 staff over its plans to overhaul its in-store bakeries, and said it was treating redundancy as “the last option”.
The stores selling second hand clothes:
Byker, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Edinburgh, Scotland
Boldon, North East
Govan, Glasgow, Scotland
Leicester
Longwell Green, Bristol
Brighton, Marina
Bedminster, Bristol
Eastleigh, Hamsphire
Middleton, Leeds
Stores selling second hand clothes by the summer:
Park Royal New
Wembley
Slough
Isle of Dog
Old Kent Road
Barking
Hounslow
Hayes
Colindale
Roehampton
Cambridge
Humle
Ashton
Trafford Park
Longsight
Preston Fulwood
Portsmouth
Southhampton
Ipswich Stoke Park
Nottingham
West Bridgeford
Hyson Green
Halesowen
Great Bridge
Coventry Abbey Park
Coventry Supercentre
West Dundee
Sheffield Supercentre
Sheffield Mosbrough
Shrewsbury
Cheltenham
Swansea
Cardiff Supercentre
Pentwyn
Liverpool Sefton
Liverpool Bootle
Asda Living Lincoln
Asda Pudsey
Asda Killingbeck
York
Asda Living Belfast
Gateshead
WATCH: What UK government COVID-19 support is available?
