Paper short abstract:

This study aims to contribute towards our understanding of the conditions under which second-hand and charity trade operate. Which values are expressed in re-use and charity practices? How are these values transformed into strategies in urban retail planning?

Paper long abstract:

This study aims to analyse how second hand and charity retailers are incorporated into urban retail planning practices. The trade in pre-owned goods represents an economic grey area as well as constituting an important part of the informal economy. The existence of both types of retailer within an urban space can communicate specific values and imagery. Stores which sell pre-owned goods, and which dedicate themselves to re-use and charity, have their own specific historiography. In the Western welfare context, however, re-use obtains a specific significance via the transformation of the pre-owned which took place during the post-war era . By identifying how the trade in pre-owned goods is organised from a retail planning perspective, this study aims to contribute towards our understanding of the conditions and opportunities under which second-hand and charity trade operate. Which values are expressed in various re-use and charity practices? How are these values transformed into sense-making strategies in retail planning practices?