A North East company that restores and re-sells handbags around the world has launched at luxury London department store Selfridges.
Designer handbag restoration and resale company The Handbag Clinic has opened in the upmarket Mayfair store as part of The Stock Market at the Corner Shop, a month-long event where customers can uncover the value of what they already own, exchange items for credit and restore or upcycle clothing and accessories.
The firm – which counts celebrity clients including Claudia Schiffer, Poppy Delevingne, Storm Keating, Heidi Range and Frankie Bridge among its clients – will be offering its services in which customers can repair or restore their handbags, shoes or leather accessories, buy a preowned handbag from its in-store collection or trade in a handbag for Selfridges credit following an on the spot valuation.
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The Handbag Clinic’s CEO and co-founder, Charlotte Staerck, said she is proud that The Handbag Clinic has been making progressive strides towards a more collaborative and sustainable industry.
Recent collaborations include Fenwick, which houses in-store concessions for The Handbag Clinic in its Newcastle, York and Colchester department stores, as well as luxury vintage marketplace, Open For Vintage which partnered with The Handbag Clinic as its official repair and restoration service. The Handbag Clinic’s range of care Kits are also stocked in Harrods.
Ms Staerck, said: “For a North East business which began with just two artisans 10 years ago, our partnership with Selfridges marks an exciting milestone for our growth journey. As gatekeepers of the sustainable luxury market, we are delighted to strengthen our community of circular clients through our partnership with Selfridges, who share our vision of preserving the past whilst mindfully reinventing the future. We’re proud to help contribute towards Selfridges’ target of 45% of transactions coming from circular products and services by 2030.”
The Selfridges Corner Shop has drawn inspiration from the desks and data-filled screens found at the London Stock Exchange, turning the shop floor into a trading floor for buying, selling, repairing and upcycling. The launch takes place as part of Worn Again, a season of secondhand and circular shopping experiences at Selfridges which takes place until August.
The Handbag Clinic, which restores over 700 bags each month, was founded by Ms Staerck and her husband Ben in 2013, launching as a spin-off from the leather restoration business Furniture Clinic, the family firm Mr Staerck initially ran with his father. It soon became the shining star in the business and Mrs Staerck – who quit her career in the pharmaceutical sector to drive forward Handbag Clinic – has overseen its growth into a number of stores as well as through franchises around the world.
Two years ago it received an £800,000 investment from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia, and private investors, allowing it to create around 20 new jobs at its head office in Burnopfield, County Durham.
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